Along with Truman Capote , Joan Didion , and Tom Wolfe , Mailer writes creative nonfiction , sometimes called New Journalism , but which covers the essay to the nonfiction novel . Along with Truman Capote , Joan Didion , Hunter S. Thompson , John McPhee , and Tom Wolfe , Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction , a genre sometimes called New Journalism , which superimposes the essay onto the nonfiction novel .