Non-Fiction Annotation - Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning

 

Author: Chelsea Manning

Title: Readme.txt

Genre: Non-Fiction (Memoir)

Publication Date: 2022

Number of Pages: 258

Geographical Setting: United States of America and Iraq

Time Period: 1987 - 2016

Plot Summary: Chelsea is in a Barnes and Noble in Maryland in 2010. She had tried to get this information out differently, but no one took her seriously. She resorts to her final option uploading them to WikiLeaks in the hopes that they understand what the documents are and that they publish them. She uploads them while on the free Wi-Fi in a Barnes and Noble before getting on a plane to Iraq the next morning. This book chronicles the life of Chelsea Manning. It follows her early life, her time being homeless, her joining the US military, her time in Iraq, her leaking of information, her trial, her time in prison, and her release. 

Subject Headings: 

• WikiLeaks - Nonfiction
• U.S. Army - Nonfiction
• Leaks (Disclosure of Information) - Nonfiction

Non-Fiction Appeals:

Storyline: "Story line is key in nonfiction because it so strongly affects a reader's response" (Wyatt, 2007, p. 15). 

The story line is the main point of this book. The story opens with the author actively doing what she is most famous for, leaking the documents, and then it moves to a chronological story of her life. The structure works to get the reader engaged off the bat then build back up to that moment and the aftermath from it. 

Learning/Experiencing: "Reading nonfiction, even highly narrative nonfiction, is a different experience than reading fiction. Part of the biggest difference is the nonfiction author's intent to turn fact into a teachable moment" (Wyatt, 2007, p. 19).

This whole book is one big teachable moment. She is teaching the audience about what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and treats this book as a way to teach the public what actually happened from her perspective.  

Pace: "Pacing is a way of describing how a book moves through the story arc. It has two facets: the feel of the pace when the book is read and the speed at which the story unfolds" (Wyatt, 2007, p. 11). 

This book is incredibly well paced. It opens on the event that most people are the most interested in about her, the leaking of the documents. It tells you enough to get you interested then moves into her life story. The book is fast paced with how the story is read, each chapter jumps forward in time sometimes by years, but the story unfolds slowly. She really wants to make sure that the audience both understands how and why she leaked the documents. 

3 Terms to Describe This Book:

• Compelling
• Important
• Well-Written

Non-Fiction Read-Alikes:

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

This is a book written by Edward Snowden about the NSA leaks, his life story, and why he did it.

Common Appeal: This is a book about the how and why he leaked government secrets similar to Chelsea's book.

Papers on the War by Daniel Ellsberg

This book is a selection of the writing by Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers. The papers that reveled to the public what was actually happening in Vietnam during the war. 

Common Appeal: This is a book about another famous leak in American history. The information was leaked for a purpose similar to why Chelsea leaked information.

Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment by James H. Jones

This book is about the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. An experiment that the U.S. government did on over 400 black people infected with syphilis.

Common Appeal: The information in this book is only known due to a whistleblower leaking that it was occurring. This is similar to the information presented in Chelsea's book. 

Other Genre Read-Alikes:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (Political Fiction)

This is a fictional book that exposed the real situation that was occurring in the meat industry in Chicago. This book caused so much public outcry that it lead to the legislation.

Common Appeal: The book leaked information that was not know to the public at the time. This is similar to the information that was leaked by Chelsea.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (True Crime)

This book is a historical chronicle of the murders of the people of the Osage Nation for their land rights and how this event led to the creation of the FBI.

Common Appeal: This book helps to educate the public on a real event that occurred in American history that is not talked about. This book is similar because it helps to shine a light on an important event like Chelsea's book.

Wicked Leaks by Matt Bendoris (Thriller)

This book is about a woman who is caring for a patient who claims to have killed Princess Diana. She goes to investigate and finds that there may be truth to the claims. 

Common Appeal: This book is a fictional ideal of what leaking unknown information would look like. It leads the characters down twists and turns.

References

Wyatt, N. (2007). The readers' advisory guide to nonfiction. ALA Editions.