I will fall for a book with a unique, compelling narrative voice—or voices—every time. Maggie O’Farrell’s This Must Be the Place. Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow. North Woods by Daniel Mason. And so I fell for the first-person narrator of I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger, who starts the book by telling us “Here at the beginning it must be said the End was on everyone’s mind.” A casual, genial … [Read more...]
Review of “Lolly Willowes”
Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978) was a British author who wrote poetry, short stories, and novels, among other things, including a biography of T. H. White. I have a collection of letters between Warner and William Maxwell, an editor at the New Yorker, to which Warner submitted poetry and short stories. They were both terrific writers, and I enjoy dipping in and out of the book. But other than … [Read more...]
Psychic Distance (in the Snow)
In my little New England town, we had several inches of snow a few days ago, which preceded a shocking drop in temperature. January is the coldest month, traditionally, but this was bitter cold. The combination of snow and cold reminded me of something I taught in my writing classes years ago. I searched through my files and finally found it: John Gardner’s ideas on psychic distance. Psychic … [Read more...]
Writing Advice, Le Guin and Woolf
When successful writers write books on how to write, the books tend to be one of two kinds: actual how-to books or how-I-did-it books. I find the former highly useful, and many of them have sat on the bookcase in my office for years, frequently revisited for use in my classes. But the latter tend to be much more interesting. Students and clients alike often cite Stephen King’s On Writing as their … [Read more...]
Favorite Quotes
During a recent class, I discussed rhythm, starting with a passage from Ursula Le Guin’s excellent Steering the Craft, and moving on to Virginia Woolf’s equally excellent explanation: “Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can’t use the wrong words.” Simple, right? I then read aloud one of my favorite examples of style/rhythm/right words. It’s three paragraphs … [Read more...]