Stunt Journalism and the Chronicle

Literature's genres are echoed in writings' lesser forms, and like a novel, short story or essay, a chronicle can be a piece of writing that does not exactly qualify as literature. A recent example of this is reviewed in this past Sunday's New York Times Book Review: "Man Seeks God," by Erik Weiner. The concept of Weiner's chronicle does have a lot of literary potential, but he does not come close to fulfilling it, instead turning out a piece of stunt travel journalism. It has the basic flaw of most books derived from a journalistic, rather than literary, inspiration. As Joshua Hammer writes, Weiner's "quest for a religious identity isn’t particularly convincing; in fact, it often seems less a heartfelt search than a device cooked up by an enterprising journalist and his editors, a way to get him on the road again. We never believe, for example, that Weiner is genuinely drawn to the spirit world of shamanism or the spooky ceremonies of modern-day witchcraft. His peripatetic approach doesn’t allow for much depth."