The most important genres of American literature in the post-war world: the biography, the history, and the narrative non-fiction essay. I will die on this hill. Folks like Robert Caro and William Manchester have written better than most of our poets, are more psychologically perceptive than our novelists, have dealt with bigger ideas than our philosophers, and created more dramatic renderings than our playwrights. New Yorker profiles and Rolling Stones essays have had more influence in our culture than any writer of fiction or philosophy. The only competition comes from the film-makers (for the 20th century), and the long-form serials (for the 21st century).

Every age has its distinctive art; every time its special mode. For the Tang it was poetry; in 19th century Europe, the novelist. Modern America is the land of the journalist and the historian.