This is an example of what’s called literary journalism. Some people (including myself) consider this a high art form. If you want to study up on the classics,

This is an example of what’s called literary journalism. Some people (including myself) consider this a high art form. If you want to study up on the classics, read Joan Didion and John McPhee - and Tom Wolfe, the titan of creative nonfiction. There is no crime in making a creative story that people enjoy reading out of a true event.