James A. Michener was unique among novelists in that he wrote both fiction and non-fiction. Over the course of his career, Michener authored or contributed to over fifty non-fiction works on topics ranging from politics, travel, social studies, and art. To locate non-fiction books by Michener, please see the Books tab at the top of this page. For scholarly articles, please click here for a complete listing of resources available through the Michener Library at the University of Northern Colorado.
Michener was heavily involved in politics throughout his life and early in his career he often contributed opinion pieces to newspapers about campaigns, political events, and other cultural phenomena. As he developed into a professional novelist, Michener expanded his ideas into full-length books.
After serving as the chairperson of the Citizens for Kennedy Committee in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Michener wrote the Report of the County Chairman. The book, published in 1961, described Kennedy’s victory in the face of strong anti-Catholic sentiment and painted a vivid picture of the volunteers and staffers who worked on the campaign. Michener went on to run for office himself in 1962.
Michener continued to focus his attention on political issues, publishing a scathing critique of the American electoral system, Presidential Lottery, in 1969 and a reflection on American culture, The Quality of Life, in 1970.
In 1970, Michener was dispatched along with two other writers to Ohio by Reader’s Digest to cover the shootings at Kent State University. The report, Kent State - What Happened and Why was released in 1971 and generated some controversy after publication. Reviewers questioned the accuracy of Michener’s reporting as he didn’t record interviews and some charged that Michener’s account failed to offer closure or resolution (May, 2005). Still Kent State offered a deep, detailed account of those tragic events in Ohio.
As Michener’s popularity as a novelist soared in the 1970’s and 1980’s he shifted his focus away from non-fiction works, only publishing articles on the subject occasionally. His volume on politics, This Noble Land: My Vision for America, was released in 1996 shortly before his death.
Michener, who served as a professor at Colorado State College of Education (CSCE) and Harvard University, was an expert in social studies. He made significant contributions as both a teacher and scholar. In 1940, he served as the Publication Chair of the National Council of the Social Studies (NCSS) and published scholarly articles on the subject (Shaver, 1995).
His earliest publications, printed in 1938, Sex Education: A Success in Our Social-Studies Class and Bach and Sugar Beets, highlighted the innovative strategies he employed while teaching at CSCE. Inspired by his experience teaching at Harvard in 1939, Michener published two more articles in 1940, An Improved Unit Method and The Unit in Social Studies, which set a new standard for designing rigorous social studies curriculum.
He continued to write about the social studies throughout his career, reflecting on changes in American society over time. In 1970 he published The Mature Social Studies Teacher and, in 1991, released his final social studies work, An Author’s View of the Social Studies. For a comprehensive listing of Michener’s contributions to the social studies, click here to view resources available in the library catalog.
Michener’s travels through the South Pacific had a great influence on his early works. In 1951, on the heels of his success with Tales of the South Pacific, Michener published The Voice of Asia, a compilation of articles he wrote about various regions in Asia. This was followed by Rascals in Paradise, published in 1957, which recounted the real life experiences of adventurers in the South Pacific region.
Michener continued to travel while researching novels and articles, but focused primarily on fictional works. It was not until 1966, after he recovered from a massive heart attack, the he turned his attention back to travel writing. He spent several months travelling through Spain with bullfighter, John Fulton, and photographer, Robert Vavra. Michener, Vavra, and Fulton toured Spain taking in bullfights, visiting ranches, and exploring cathedrals. The resulting book, Iberia, published in 1968 was equal parts guidebook, history, and personal musings. Though it received mixed reviews from critics, it was quite popular with the public and sales quickly rose to best-seller status (Hayes, 1984).
Michener once again shifted his focus back to writing fiction, but published two more travel volumes, Six Days in Havana and Pilgrimage: Memoir of Poland and Rome in 1990 followed by My Lost Mexico in 1992.
Michener was a reserved person, rarely offering friends or readers insight into his past. He published one memoir, The World is my Home, which described only select parts of his life.
Michener was much more open to sharing his writing process, however, and published several literary reflections. In 1974, he released About Centennial: Some Notes on the Novel, which offered an in-depth look at how Michener researched, plotted, and wrote his 1974 novel Centennial. Michener later went on to publish a how-to guide for writers, James A. Michener’s Writer’s Handbook, in 1992.
From childhood, Michener was fascinated by art, particularly painting (May, 2005). During his time serving in the South Pacific, Michener discovered and began to appreciate Asian art, in particular Japanese wood block prints. Over the course of his life, he amassed a significant personal collection of prints and was a contributor to several books highlighting the history and beauty of these works.
Most of Michener’s books about art and printmaking were published in the 1950’s, starting with The Floating World, which was published in 1954. In The Floating World, Michener detailed how printmakers in the Edo period fought to keep their art alive in the face of government restrictions. It was followed by The Hokusai Sketchbooks in 1958, which presented almost 200 sketches by renowned artist Katsushika Hokusai. Soon after, Michener wrote Japanese Prints, published in 1959, wherein Michener presented selected prints with discussion of the political and social contexts in which they were created.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Michener published two more books about Japanese art. The Modern Japanese Print, published in 1962, showcased ten works by renowned printmakers. It was followed by Facing East in 1970, a collaboration between Michener and American artist, Jack Levine.
Image credit: George Mason University Libraries
Photo credit: courtesy of James A. Michener
Photo credit: Robert Vavra
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Photo credit: United Photo International
Hayes, John Phillip. James A. Michener, a Biography. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1984. Print.
May, Stephen J. Michener: A Writer's Journey. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Print.
Shaver, James P. "James Michener and the Historical Future of Social Studies." Social Education 59.7 (1995): 446. Web.