The road to Wigan Pier / George Orwell -- Let us now praise famous men / James Agee -- Hiroshima / John Hersey -- Reporting / Lillian Ross -- The story of a shipwrecked sailor / Gabriel Garc ia M arquez -- The earl of Louisiana / A.J. Liebling -- The autobiography of Malcolm X / Alex Haley -- A mother in history / Jean Stafford -- In cold blood / Truman Capote -- Hell's Angels / Hunter Thompson -- Slouching towards Bethlehem / Joan Didion -- The onion field / Joseph Wambaugh -- A welfare mother / Susan Sheehan -- Friendly fire / C.D.B. Bryan -- Dispatches / Michael Herr -- The right stuff / Tom Wolfe -- The soul of a new machine / Tracy Kidder -- The great China earthquake / Qian Gang.