How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor: A Smart, Irreverent Guide to Biography, History, Journalism, Blogs, and Everything in Between

As a literary scholar and professor of English at the University of Michigan–Flint, Thomas C. Foster is best known for his How to Read Like a Professor series. His background in teaching literature, rhetoric, and critical thinking informs his accessible, conversational approach to textual analysis. In How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor, Foster extends his series’ mission to help his readers learn how to apply close-reading skills to factual and argumentative works.

Foster’s significance in this book lies in his dual identity as both an educator and a social commentator. His tone blends humor, authority, and urgency as he guides readers in interpreting nonfiction with the same depth that they apply to fiction and poetry. He rejects the passive consumption of information, arguing that “the worst thing you can do when reading nonfiction is to believe that everything you read is true. The second worst is not believing any of it” (3). This philosophy frames the book as both a practical guide and a civic appeal.

Foster’s broader goal in addressing the interpretation of nonfiction is to restore public trust through critical literacy. His warnings about misinformation,