| Description |
vi, 375 pages ; 23 cm |
| Summary |
"The Writer's Reader is an anthology of essays on the art and life of writing by major writers of the past and present. It draws on the experiences and advice of many of the world's best writers, mainly from Britain and America, but also from Latin America, Asia, and Europe.These essays offer a wealth of insights into the varied ways in which writers approach writing and represent a practical resource as well as a source of inspiration for those who are hoping to become writers or who are, perhaps, just at the beginnings of their career. They range from classic to less well-known, historical to contemporary, and include, for example, essays on the vocation of writing by Natalia Ginzburg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Flannery O'Connor, Chinua Achebe, and Julia Alvarez; thoughts on preparing for writing by, among others, Roberto Bolano, Joan Didion, Jorge Luis Borges, Raymond Carver, Montaigne, and Cynthia Ozick; and essays on the craft of writing by writers such as Italo Calvino, Colm Tóibin, Virginia Woolf, Philip Roth, Lydia Davis, David Foster Wallace, and Zadie Smith.Taken together, this collection is a must-read for any student or devotee of writing"-- Provided by publisher. |
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"Brings together classic as well as less well-known essays by major writers, past and present, on the vocation and craft of writing"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
My vocation / Natalia Ginzburg -- Silences / Tillie Olsen -- Letter to a young gentleman who proposes to embrace the career of art / Robert Louis Stevenson -- The nature and aim of fiction / Flannery O'Connor -- The storyteller / John Berger -- Advice to a young writer / Daniulo Kis -- Mentors / Jay Parini-- Create dangerously / Edwidge Danticat -- Full of it / Charles Baxter -- Writing in the cold: the first ten years / Ted Solotaroff -- The oldest writer in the underworld / Julia Alvarez -- Who would dare? / Roberto Bolano -- Unpacking my library / Walter Benjamin -- Reading in the toilet / Henry Miller -- My first speech / Katherine Anne Porter -- Literary pleasure / Jorge Luis Borges -- Of books / Michel de Montaigne -- Deciding to write in English / Ha Jin-- Approaches to what? / George Perec -- The lesson of the master / Cynthia Ozick-- Not-knowing / Donald Barthelme-- Levels of reality in literature / Italo Calvino -- The novel demeuble / Willa Cather -- The personal and the individual / Leonard Michaels -- Grief / Colm Toibin -- Character in fiction / Virginia Woolf -- The art of fiction / Henry James -- Writing American fiction / Philip Roth -- Form as a response to doubt / Lydia Davis -- How to write about Africa / Binyavanga Wainaina -- Refer madness / Robert Cohen -- The nature of the fun / David Foster Wallace -- Fail better / Zadie Smith. |
| Subject |
Authorship.
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Authorship -- Vocational guidance.
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| Added Author |
Cohen, Robert, 1957- editor.
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Parini, Jay, editor.
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Ginzburg, Natalia.
My vocation.
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Olsen, Tillie.
Silences.
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Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894.
Letter to a young gentleman who proposes to embrace the career of art.
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O'Connor, Flannery.
Nature and aim of fiction.
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Berger, John.
Storyteller.
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Kiš, Danilo, 1935-1989.
Advice to a young writer.
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Parini, Jay.
Mentors.
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Danticat, Edwidge, 1969-
Create dangerously.
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Baxter, Charles, 1947-
Full of it.
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Solotaroff, Ted, 1928-2008.
Writing in the cold.
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| ISBN |
9781628925371 (paperback) |
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162892537X (paperback) |
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