Maps to Anywhere is probably the best example I can think of using for teaching how creative essays can work in practice. I'm sure there was a lot of confusion amongst many readers when they were told this was a collection of "essays," because structurally and narratively, it can be confused as a collection of short stories (in many ways it is a short story collection, but I digress). It emphasizes how to write creative non-fiction in a practical and approachable way, which is much more useful than merely explaining how creative non-fiction is supposed to work.
This doesn't mean the writing itself was flawless, or that the essays contained throughout the book were completely discernable, of course; there are plenty of opportunities for Bernard to confuse the reader, for his stories to seem out of place, or made-up, or even unnecessarily lacking in "essay-like" qualities. Throughout the text, the reader will stumble across stories that will allow for empathy and compassion(his personal struggles), root up analogous memories (his relationship to his parents and all of their eccentricities, for example), and invoke some truly stunning imagery and well-crafted writing, but they might also find themselves confused. There are a few instances where I'm left wondering what his intent is, and how some things can be considered a strict creative essay, such as the portions written from the perspectives of others and totally lacking any input from the author himself. I suppose these could be factual essays without involving the author, but they don't seem to fit well to my limited scope of view.
The poignancy of Bernard's writing is, above all, helped by two things: the sharpness of his writing and the brevity of his essays. It would be easy to expect some of these stories to wind on for many pages, stopping to graze on long-ago memories instead of passing by them at a glance, but Mr. Cooper seems to know precisely when each essay has worn out its welcome and appropriately honed them to delightfully consumable portions. He gives us enough details to flesh out the narrative he's creating, yet never spends excessive time doing so; even when he re-visits themes and stories later on in the text, he presents them from a new perspective that never retreads or re-emphasizes something for a dampened effect.
Maps to Anywhere might not be my favorite piece of reading from this course, but I suppose it is most deserved of praise. It's a rare piece of writing that shows the reader how something can work almost effortlessly, while being wholly enjoyable to read.
