Author Guide · Immersion Journalism
Books Written by
To write Nomadland, Jessica Bruder spent months living in a camper van and drove more than 15,000 miles over three years, from Mexico to the Canadian border. She took jobs alongside the people she was writing about, in an Amazon warehouse program for van dwellers and at the sugar beet harvest. A few years earlier a box had arrived at her Brooklyn apartment that turned out to hold Edward Snowden's archive of NSA documents. This guide covers all three of her books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 3 books · Immersion journalism · 2007–2020 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Jessica Bruder has published three books: Burning Book (2007), about the Burning Man festival; Nomadland (2017), about older Americans living in vans and following seasonal work; and Snowden's Box (2020), written with Dale Maharidge. Nomadland was adapted into the film that won three Oscars, but the book follows the real people the film fictionalised.
Where to Start with Jessica Bruder
If you want the famous one
→ Nomadland (2017).
If you want something you have never read about
→ Snowden's Box (2020).
If you want to start where she started
→ Burning Book (2007).
All 3 Jessica Bruder Books, in Order
Burning Book
A history of the Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, from its beginnings on a San Francisco beach to the temporary city of tens of thousands it had become, illustrated with photographs, many of them her own.
Nomadland
Older Americans who can no longer afford rent or retirement live in vans and RVs and travel from one seasonal job to the next: Amazon warehouses at Christmas, the sugar beet harvest, campground hosting. Bruder follows several of them, above all Linda May, over three years. It was a New York Times Notable Book, and the 2020 film by Chloé Zhao won the Oscar for Best Picture.
The first woman to report from inside the story: Nellie Bly →
Snowden's Box
Written with Dale Maharidge. In 2013, as a favour to a friend, Bruder agreed to pass on a package without asking what was in it; it turned out to contain the archive of documents Edward Snowden had taken from the NSA. The book tells that story and asks what trust means when everything can be watched.
How Many Books Did Jessica Bruder Write?
Three books between 2007 and 2020, one of them written with Dale Maharidge.
- Immersion — Burning Book and Nomadland, both written from inside the worlds they describe. Read the entries →
- Co-written — Snowden's Box (2020), with Dale Maharidge. Read the entries →
In What Order to Read Jessica Bruder
Her books are not a series, and each stands on its own. If you have seen the film, read Nomadland first: the people Chloé Zhao cast as themselves are the people the book follows.
A reading path
1. Nomadland (2017)
2. Snowden's Box (2020)
3. Burning Book (2007)
Quick facts about Jessica Bruder
- Based in
- Brooklyn, New York
- Education
- Amherst College; Columbia Journalism School
- Teaches
- Narrative writing at Columbia Journalism School, since 2008
- Before the books
- Staff reporter at The Oregonian and The New York Observer
- Awards
- Discover Award and Ryszard Kapuściński Award for Literary Reportage, for Nomadland
- Translations
- Nomadland has been published in 24 languages
- Film
- Nomadland (2020), directed by Chloé Zhao, won three Oscars
- Books
- 3, from Burning Book (2007) to Snowden's Box (2020)
How Jessica Bruder Writes: Staying Long Enough
Bruder works by immersion. For Nomadland she bought a van, lived in it for months at a time and worked the same seasonal jobs as the people she was following, so that much of the book is reported from inside the warehouses, campgrounds and harvest lines.
She stays with her subjects for years rather than weeks. Nomadland covers three years of travel, and its central figure, Linda May, appears from the first chapters to the last, so that the book shows how a life on the road changes over time.
She also takes many of her own photographs, and pictures appear in all three of her books.
Frequently asked questions about Jessica Bruder's books
How many books has Jessica Bruder written?
Jessica Bruder has published three books: Burning Book (2007), Nomadland (2017) and Snowden's Box (2020), the last written with Dale Maharidge.
Is Nomadland a true story?
Yes. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century (2017) is a work of nonfiction about real people who live in vans and RVs and follow seasonal work. The 2020 film turned it into a fictional story, but several of the people from the book appear in it as versions of themselves.
Is the Nomadland book different from the film?
Yes. The book is reporting about real people, above all Linda May, while the film invents a central character, Fern, played by Frances McDormand, and places her among real nomads from the book.
What is Snowden's Box about?
Snowden's Box (2020), written with Dale Maharidge, tells how a package containing Edward Snowden's archive of NSA documents passed through Bruder's hands in 2013, and asks what trust means in an age of surveillance.
Did Jessica Bruder live in a van?
Yes. To report Nomadland, she spent months living in a camper van over three years and worked some of the same jobs as the people she was writing about.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all hers.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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