Journalist and Author of the New York Times Bestseller “Methland The Death and Life of an American Small Town”; Winner of the 2010 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism; Yale College’s series of Francis Conversations with Writers and Editors.
About Nick Reding
The investigative reporter Nick Reding will read from and discuss his book Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town on Thursday, October 7, as part of Yale College’s series of Francis Conversations with Writers and Editors. The event is being co-sponsored by the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism and the Francis Writer in Residence program.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 8:00 p.m. in the Master’s Residence at Branford College, 80 High St.
Nick Reding spent four years investigating how Oelwein, Iowa (pop. 6,776) was ravaged by crystal methamphetamine. The resulting book became a New York Times bestseller and won the 2010 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism.
In a New York Times Book Review cover review, Walter Kirn wrote: “The book, wrought from old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting of a type that’s disappearing faster than nonfranchised lunch counters on Main Street, isn’t chiefly a tale of drugs and crime, of dysfunction and despair, but a recession-era tragedy scaled for an `Our Town,’ Thornton Wilder stage and seemingly based on a script by William S. Burroughs.”
Washington Monthly called Reding’s depictions of Oelwein’s residents–addict, dealer, doctor, prosecutor–“nuanced and complex.” In Oprah Magazine, Francine Prose wrote: “What’s most impressive about Methland is not only the wealth of information it provides but the depth of Reding’s compassion for the individuals meth has touched: the heroes, the helpless witnesses, the innocent victims–and even the perpetrators–of this American crisis.”
The Francis Writer in Residence program, established by Paul E. Francis, Class of 1977, brings a distinguished writer of nonfiction to Yale to teach during the academic year and supports readings and talks by visiting writers and editors. The Poynter Fellowship brings to campus distinguished reporters, editors and others who have made important contributions to the media.