Though listed as a reference book,
The Lifespan of a Fact is really a heated and often hilarious battle between essayist John D'Agata and his fact checker at the
Believer, Jim Fingal. John's flippant responses frustrate Jim so much that he retaliates by, among other things, taking stabs at the former's mom (and perhaps even quits the editing biz — his bio notes that he went on to become a software engineer).
One could probably learn some tips about fact checking and essay writing in The Lifespan of a Fact. But ultimately, the book serves as an intense demonstration of the difficulty of accurately representing any event and a meditation on how much fidelity to fact can be sacrificed for poetics.