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Also known as a successful nonfiction writer, Peter Matthiessen seems to be clear in his preference for fiction over nonfiction as an art form to explore “deeper truth.” Furthermore, whereas he tends to be drained in the process of writing nonfiction, he says, he is energized by fiction writing. Fiction, above all, gives him more imaginative freedom than nonfiction because with fiction he is able to go beyond the limits of “facts.” Then fiction writing gives him an invaluable opportunity to listen to and capture human voices in a fresh way, itself both the very essence and delight of fiction writing. For him fiction is also an art form that functions like a meditation in his search for reality. If Zen is a medium for him to reach “samadhi” in which he is able to see things as they really are, fiction writing is a way of getting in touch with “prajna” with which he can understand the whole reality. Shadow Country is Matthiessen's grand attempt to penetrate and understand the reality of self through the Watson story. While it is a story of self-examination of the individual self, it metaphorically becomes a narrative of a close examination of America and its dark sides.