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Master Class: Scenes from a Fiction Workshop Review

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(More customer reviews)No other book which is marketed as a guide for writers is like this book, partly because the marketing isn't exactly accurate, but mostly because there isn't another writer like Paul West.
If you're looking for the standard sort of 10-Steps to Better Writing manual (the kind which Writer's Digest Books churns out with remarkable speed), then this is not the book for you. While there is tremendously powerful advice for all writers within Master Class, you can't use the book for easy reference, and most of the suggestions offered are of the earthshakingly metaphysical sort (the kind you find in, for instance, Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet).
This book will also frustrate you if you don't particularly like to think, and don't particularly like to read anything written by someone who is smarter and better-read than you are. If you think such people are naturally pretentious, then you will find Paul West pretentious. Continue on in ignorant bliss.
But if you're willing to surrender yourself to a brilliant mind and brilliant writing, if you want to dig deep into the biggest questions any writer should think about (questions of motive and meaning, of language and history, of responsibility and truth), if you don't mind obscure references and difficult concepts, then here's your book.
In Master Class, Paul West gives his own account of one semester of a particularly brilliant fiction writing seminar. Since it's from his point of view, and since he was hired to be a teacher and mentor and expert, we get an awful lot of his opinions, stray thoughts, and tangential anecdotes. He doesn't, for the most part, sum them up, and certainly doesn't offer any easy formulas. But his thoughts are so insightful, his erudition so remarkable, and his perspective so clear and refreshing -- no woo-woo New Age mysticism, no "writing is the expression of the inner child" drivel, no simplifications or simple-mindedness -- that this book is one of the very few which live up to Kafka's dictum that a book should be an axe to cut through the frozen sea within us.

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Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation Review

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

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(More customer reviews)Readers, check your reaction to the following sentence:
Lynne Truss, an English grammarian is bloody fed up with sloppy punctuation.
Does that sentence leave you feeling confused, irritated, or angry? Do you feel you have to second-guess the author of the sentence, forced to ascertain whether s/he was writing to Lynne Truss or about Ms. Truss?
But that sort of thing is almost the norm these days, on both sides of the Atlantic. Of course, we Americans have been struggling for years with FRESH DONUT'S DAILY and Your Server: "MILLY" -- not to mention the archy-and-mehitabel school of e-mail that neither capitalizes nor punctuates and reading through this kind of sentence really gets confusing i think it does at least do you too?
Turns out that even the British--including the elite "Oxbridge" inteligentsia--are wildly ignorant of punctuation's rules and standards. Lynne Truss, an English grammarian and author of EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES, is bloody fed up with it! So she wrote this handy little book that is ever-so-correct but not condescending, sometimes savage but not silly, full of mission and totally without mush.
Think of Truss as punctuation's own Miss Manners, a combination of leather and lace, with maybe a bit more emphasis on the leather. (She advocates forming possees to paint out incorrect apostrophes in movie placards.) But her examples of bad punctuation serve a purpose: bad punctuation distorts meaning. EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES includes numerous hilarious backfires of punctuation -- statements and missives that use the exact same words but convey totally opposite messages due to inappropriate punctuation.
Do commas go where they go for breathing, as the do-it-naturally school of non-grammar so many of us were exposed to would have it? Or were they for Medieval chanting or, more analytically, for grammar? Truss explains that it's a mish-mosh of all three, and proceeds to make useful sense of it all. Along the way she confesses she would have gladly borne the children of the 15th-Century Italian typographer who invented Italics and the forward-slash.
With its blend of high dudgeon and helpfulness, Truss steers the reader through the shoals of possession and apostrophes, quotations (British use is a bit differerent from North American, but only a bit, and she notes the difference), the useful if forlorn semicolon, the mighty colon, the bold and (mea culpa) overused dash and other interrupters like parenthesees and commas.
It's important to note that Truss, while something of a true believer, is a believer who lives in the 21st Century. She does not advocate turning back the clock to the 1906 version of Fowler's MODERN ENGLISH USAGE; she is not a snob; she does not overwhelm us with technical terms of grammar and punctuation for their own sake. Just good, common-sense English prescriptive lessons in grammar. People who know they don't know their stuff will learn the right stuff there. People who felt that "the rules" have somehow become archaic in the last thirty years will be happy to see that there are still rules, and while they have become more fluid and pragmatic, they haven't changed inordinately. "It's" still means "It is" and "Its" is still a possessive: "It's a wise publisher that knows its public," say.
Best of all, the teaching is conveyed with wit, bite, and in a snappy tome easy to carry and inexpensive. I'm a former English teacher and I couldn't help but learn and laugh. Highly recommended.
Oh, John Updike? He uses comma faults all that time, that's a sentence like this that splices main clauses together with a comma, maybe using semicolons or starting a new sentence would be better. For us mere mortals, though, standard punctuation fits the norm: once we become world-famous, then we can punctuate at will.

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Writing to Change the World Review

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(More customer reviews)Deep down, all writers aspire to be what Mary Pipher calls "Change Writers". Mary Pipher gets to the heart, the root of why we write. Whether we are 'liberal' or 'conservative', republican or democrat, athiest or 'fundamentalist', we write because we understand that we can influence people with our words.
This is not a book on "How to Write". This is not even a book of inspiration for curing "Writer's Block". This is a book that brings to light the things which the heart of every writer knows, yet often forgets.
Pipher separates her book into three sections, "What We Alone Can Say", "The Writing Process" and "Calls to Action". I found "What We Alone Can Say" and "Calls to Action" to be the most insightful and original. I was actually debating whether I liked the book while reading the center section. But, Pipher pulled through. The irony is that she includes a Mickey Spillane quote that says, "Nobody reads a book to get to the middle." I wonder if Pipher struggled with the center section herself.
If you want a book on how to write, or a book for inspiration, pick up Write Down the Bones. Pipher also recommends this book in a thorough list of Recommended Readings. If you are a writer, a performer, a blogger or a poet who is trying to figure out how to make a difference, pick up Pipher's book.
I have found that many of my most treasured books begin with a James Baldwin quote. Pipher chooses, "You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way... people look at reality, then you can chage it." Pipher offers a guide to changing the world one "Baldwin Millimeter" at a time.
(Side note: Pipher references a song by Billie Holiday "Strange Fruit" While this was the perfect example, the song was not actually written by her, but by a poet who does not receive credit in this book.)

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The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing Review

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(More customer reviews)I first encountered "Nuts and Bolts" several years ago, when it was just a web-site. Back then, Yahoo! gave it one of their "cool sites" awards (complete with cute little sunglasses.) It became such a hit on the web, Hackett decided to give Professor Harvey a publishing contract.
Its great that they did, because the other college writing handbooks are either deadly dull or sprouting whiskers. Nuts and Bolts is neither dry nor bewhiskered -- it is hip, handy, and highly literate. This new book could (and should) evict Strunk and White, Turabian, Chicago Style Book, and all the other has-beens and never-weres as the one book every college student (yes, including science majors) should carry in their book bag. (Dissertation-writers may still need Chicago for their fine brush-work, but everyone else will find this jack-of-all-topics addresses most high-school and college needs.)
What's so great about this book? Essentially, it provides one-stop shopping for the essentials of good college term-paper writing -- usually dispensed in travel-sized doses of only three or four pages.
Nuts and Bolts presumes little, but teaches much. It rides no high horses, grinds no axes, curries no favors. Yet it is both idiot- and pedant -proof. Never written an essay before, but want to know what one is? Nuts and Bolts will tell you, without making you feel stupid for having asked. (Enlightening but non-overwhelming flashback to Montaigne included). Want to know what good sentences look like? (hint: active verbs) How to cite a "blog" in an essay? (take that, Strunk and White!) "Nuts and Bolts" does all this and (much) more while always remembering that brevity is the soul of pedagogy.
Finally, though it crisply marches student essays from the first head-scratch to the last push of the "print" button, its elegant writing and efficient layout make Nuts and Bolts ideal for sustained soaks or surgical strikes as needs dictate. Perfect example: Nuts and Bolts provides side-by-side comparisons of how each of the three major citation-systems expect students to format books, articles, websites (etc.) in their bibliographies and footnotes. A veritable god-send for the student triple-majoring in English Lit, Psychology, and Bio!
This book is written so clearly, and presumes so little background on the part of its reader (Professor Harvey has obviously studied the average scantily-trained college student in its native habitat) that you almost don't realize how supremely intelligent it is. Though it will probably mostly be assigned for remedial purposes, the book is so engagingly written it will inspire even very good writers -- teachers and professors included -- to carry it around in their own soft-sider brief cases. Adios, Strunk and White. Hello, Nuts and Bolts.

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Engagingly written and illustrated with scores of telling examples, this plainspoken how-to book for college writers identifies those qualities that most typically distinguish good writing from bad and provides practical measures for avoiding pitfalls. Included are do's and don'ts for achieving concision, clarity, and flow, as well as pointers on using punctuation, writing gracefully, citing sources, and structuring persuasive writing. Championing "the plain style" with a keen appreciation for the uses to which language can be putÃ‚Â—including abuses to which it is proneÃ‚Â—The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing is a guide that never fails to remind readers why good writing matters so much in the first place, in college and beyond.

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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life Review

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(More customer reviews)This is not a how-to book. This is not a New Age manual for freeing your creativity in ethereal ways. This is Anne Lamott, for heaven's sake...and that means it's funny! As in, laugh- till-you-can't-read-the-words-through-the-tears-in-your-eyes funny. (Some call this therapy, and I'm inclined to agree.)
Though aimed at writers, this book is full of sage advice and razor-edged honesty for the average joe. If you're a writer--and I claim to be one--it's more than a few anecdotes and good advice; it's a lifeline in the thrashing seas of rough-draftdom, a foothold on the sands of jealousy and vain ambition. Anne makes it clear that writing must be pursued for something other than mere publication. (Though, to be honest, I know she's just trying to let the majority of us down easy.) Writing is about letting go, growing, facing truths, and holding on.
I'm hooked on Lamott. She slaps me in the face with her startling revelations, nudges me in the ribs with her unpredictable humor, and prods my frozen little writer's hands back into action with warm compassion. This book won't solve the mechanical aspects of my writing, or lead me on the path of structural excellence, but it will spark my creativity, free my characters to be true to themselves, and, ultimately, shake me from my doldrums back into the writing mode.
In a society addicted to mindless facts and information, "Bird by Bird" reminds us--writers or otherwise--that it's all about heart. Heart and mind and soul dancing together, even if they step all over each other's feet.

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100 Successful College Application Essays (Second Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased 3 College Essay books (100 Successful College Application Essays, 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, and Essays That Worked), and have the following comments... I believe that the Harvard book has the best suggestions on how to write an essay, along with the best commentary/critique. However, the essays are a bit too polished. I think for 90% of prospective college students, their essays would be more like those in and patterned like those in Essays That Worked. For varied ideas on essays, the 100 Successful book gives some good ideas, but I believe many of the essays to be subpar. I did each book to have some interesting general reading, especially if one likes "short stories"... or if one is interested in 17 & 18 year olds, and what goes thru their minds.

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Personal Notes: How to Write from the Heart for Any Occasion Review

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(More customer reviews)Personal Notes: How to Write from the Heart for Any Occasion by Sandra E. Lambhad thought many times of writing a book on how to write personal notes, a nearly lost social art-form; however, I'm glad I never got around to it because I could not have written the book nearly so insightfully as Sandra. She combines the "how to's" of polite and pertinent note writing with wisdom of the spirit and heart of both the sender and receiver of the notes. Not only does she guide you in how to write notes, she also guides you in the psychology and empathy required to write from your heart. You'll learn how to put yourself in another's shoes in order to know how and when to reach out witrh a note. A very helpful and knowledgeable book for every home, a great tool for teachers and parents, and important skills for business and interpersonal relationships. This would be an excellent graduation or wedding shower gift. Personal Notes is really worth having

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The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America's Greatest Writing Teacher Review

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(More customer reviews)This being my introduction to Donald Murray, I quickly found myself joining ranks with all those before me who were inspired by Murray's work and words. Part of me thinks that this collection should have been titled, THE QUOATABLE DON MURRAY because I found myself underlining every other sentence in this book! I believe what sets Murray apart from others is his diverse interests that inform his thinking about writing. Being interested in multiple mediums myself, I found this refreshing as I, too feel there lie connections between all types of expression: be it music, art or writing. Murray asserts that these connections can help us understand the process of how we come to capture and interpret what we are thinking.
THE ESSENTIAL DON MURRAY contains not only Murray's essays, but also serves as a compilation of excerpts from his "daybooks," sketches, photographs, poems, and quotes from other writers and artists that Murray found affirming. I particularly enjoyed looking over Murray's typed drafts, often littered with handwritten notes, a wonderful (and informative) opportunity to view the artist at work. Since Murray's manuscripts, etc. are now housed at the Polymer Institute, this book provides access to the best of that collection.
Perhaps what touched me most about this collection is Murray's honesty and courage. Even in his more instructional essays, he does not shy away from speaking (and writing) about the difficult moments of his life: being a paratrooper, understanding a rough childhood, coping with his daughter's death, with his own heart attack, and with growing old. Murray never gives the sense that these types of events are only reserved for certain genres. "All my writing - and yours - is autobiographical," something to be embraced, Murray asserts, not ashamed of. I take solace in these words because I feel that too many times we are asked to write as NOT ourselves, such as essays for classes or even publication.
THE ESSENTIAL DON MURRAY gave me heart to continue writing; to be selfish about it, make time for it, nurture and get brash with it. "I'm no George Orwell, but neither was George Orwell most days," that kind of unconditional encouragement is what I found throughout this book, and why it has a special place on my own writing desk.

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Don Murray s mission was to demystify writing by revealing as much as possible about the habits, processes, and practices of writers. This book carries on his work and shows the evolution of his thinking by collecting his most influential pieces as well as unpublished essays, entries from his daybook, drawings, and numerous examples of his famous handouts.KEY WORKS ON WRITING IN ONE COLLECTIONWriting as Process: How Writing Finds Its Own Meaning The Listening Eye: Reflections on the Writing Conference Teaching the Other Self: The Writer s First Reader Write Before Writing Writing Badly to Write Well: Searching for the Instructive Line All Writing is Autobiography and more60 years of work and wisdom: THE ESSENTIAL DON MURRAYDon Murray on...teaching writing as process, not product Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness. We work with language in action. We share with our students the continual excitement of choosing one word instead of another, of searching for the one true word. This is not a question of correct or incorrect, of etiquette or custom. This is a matter of far higher importance. understanding the writing process The process of making meaning with written language can not be understood by looking backward from a finished page. Process can not be inferred from product any more than a pig can be inferred from a sausage. It is possible, however, for us to follow the process forward from blank page to final draft and learn something of what happens. knowing the writer within There is always magic in this for me, and wonder because I do not know what I am going to say until it is said. The writer within is always a stranger, with a grin, a top hat and long, quick fingers which produce what was not there before. I shall never know this magic man well, although he has been with me for sixty years. He entices me with his capacity for surprise. doing the work of writing Writing is primarily not a matter of talent, of dedication, of vision, of vocabulary, of style, but simply a matter of sitting. The writer is a person who writes.

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100 Ways to Improve Your Writing (Mentor) Review

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(More customer reviews)I use Gary Provost's 100 WAYS as the textbook in my Internet writing course (Personal Writing) for Lansing Community College. Students tell me, and I agree, that the organization of the book, its conversational tone, its concrete examples, and its unintimidating size and appearance are all features that make it a book they LOVE to read and will keep. It doesn't feel, look, or read like a textbook.
Gary Provost's honesty about his own dislike for starting a writing assignment is disarming and important for students to see. Provost also makes readers comfortable with him when he admits the enormous risk inherent in writing a book about writing: He knows there must be thousands of readers just waiting to find an error in his work and to take two points off with a sharp red pencil!
Finally, Provost's section on cliches is a delight. The entire section, which warns readers to avoid cliches, is written in a series of -- what else? -- cliches. Nice touch, and funnier than a crutch (oops)!
Gary Provost is an artist, as are all good writers. The artist in Provost succeeds delightfully in this little book. 100 WAYS is Provost's Picasso-like sketch of Don Quixote with the windmill waiting in the distance to be overcome.
Buy this book, use it, enjoy it, learn from it, teach with it, keep it.
Dale M. Herder, Ph.D. Professor of English and Vice President Emeritus Lansing Community College Lansing, Michigan

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A complete course in the art of writing and an essential reference for any working or would-be writer of any kind. Step-by-step it shows how to come up with ideas, get past writer's block, create an irresistible opening, develop an effective style, choose powerful words and master grammar, rewrite, and much, much more.

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Getting It Published, 2nd Edition: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) Review

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(More customer reviews)William Germano, vice president and publishing director at Routledge, wrote Getting It Published to explain the expectations that scholarly publishing houses have toward writers. He set forth as his goals "to explain how publishers select manuscripts and publish them, to help the serious writer best present her or his work so that its chances for acceptance will be significantly increased," and "to show how the process from submission to publication can be made to work, and work well for both publisher and author" (x). Germano's helps train the young scholar how to shop his book around after he has done sufficient research and written a manuscript. Germano explains that an author must ask the two questions: "Why did I write this book?" "Whom did I write it for?" (1). Too often, an author has too big of expectations for their book. Many scholarly works concern a niche subject that will not penetrate the culture at large. It is important for the author to understand what audience would be interested in his book and to approach publishing houses that have shown an interest in that subject.In the end, Germano's Getting It Published is very useful at guiding the unpublished author through the upcoming publication obstacle course. His perspective is unique to most scholars since he is on the publisher side of the fence, and this perspective provides a lot of insights that would not be shared in a conversation with a fellow scholar. The neat thing about reading through this book is that it actually inspired me to delve more into my research and write more. Germano has written a book that provides a good practical layout on simple things like writing letters and asking for permissions to reprint pictures, quotes and poetry while at the same time expressing what the expectations for the author are and what the author should expect out of the publisher. It lays it all out concisely and clearly.

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Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently ordered and received Lawrence Block's book, 'Writing the Novel From Plot to Print.' IF you are very serious about writing a novel, this small book provides some thoughtful, though verbose information on tips and tricks and should and shouldn't's.
In the same order package, I purchased 'Telling Lies for Fun and Profit -- A Manuel for Fiction Writers.' I was very dissapointed to find that the second book was an almost verbatim version of the 'Writing the Novel...' book.
Keeping that in mind, if/when you order either of the books, go for the cheapest used version you can get of either because Mr. Block tells the same anecdotes, the same thoughts, and information in both books--almost verbatim.
I just wish that on either of the books information, either in Amazon or Printer's Editorial/Description, it would have been noted that the first book was a rewrite of the second (or vice versa).
As to the value of the information that is provided in either book--it's OK, but nothing earthshattering that will help you write a blockbuster novel. The text itself reads easily, as if you were having a conversation with Mr. Block in the same room. Very friendly and easy to understand--nothing you would need a college degree to comprehend.

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Writing lessons from the crown prince of suspense For more than five decades, Lawrence Block has written novels. He has produced hard-boiled detective stories, taut suspense thrillers, literature, and erotica, and has succeeded in all these genres because he knows how to grab a reader with an opening line, and how to tighten that grip until the final sentence. In Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print, Block offers neither tricks nor formulas, but straight-forward advice based on the experience that comes with producing more than one hundred books. He explains how to refine an idea, how to study one's chosen genre, and how to use the novel's expansive form to find one's particular voice. And he tells it all in the easy, immediate style that has made his own work so successful. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lawrence Block, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from his personal collection, and a new afterword written by the author. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Writing from the Inside Out: Transforming Your Psychological Blocks to Release the Writer Within Review

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(More customer reviews)The first and sometimes only thing I read in the monthly Writers Guild of American Journal is Dennis Palumbo's column, so I knew I had to have this book. What I didn't know is how much it would help me. A successful TV person, I have been avoiding writing my first novel for years. Blocked. Totally. Although I thought I had heard all the advice, I had never heard anyone describe a block in the way Palumbo does. Turning it from a negative to a positive worked. I began to view the block as a stepping stone or a bridge (albeit a creaky, scary swinging bridge), rather than a concrete wall. In this way, I was finally able to stop beating myself up for the avoidance, and accept it as a part of the process. Lo and behold, book is done and the agent loves it! Thank you, Mr. Palumbo, for helping me write the thing I spent four years avoiding.
Also especially loved what Palumbo had to say about writers' envy of other successful writers. Until I read this, I thought it was my own dirty, little secret. Now I know that all the rest of you hope my books does as lousy as I hope yours does...
If you love to write, you'll like this book. If you hate to write, you may like it even more.

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"Dennis Palumbo has great insight into a writer s psyche.... Every writer should have a shrink or this book. The book is cheaper."—Gary Shandling, actor, comic, and writer
"wise, compassionate, and funny..."—Aram Saroyan, poet and novelist
"Dennis Palumbo provides a sense of community in the isolation of writing, of knowing that we are not alone on this uncharted and privileged journey. He shows us that our shared struggles, fears, and triumphs are the very soul of the art and craft of writing."—Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter, GhostandDeepImpact
Writer's block. Procrastination. Loneliness. Doubt. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Just plain...fear. What does it mean if you struggle with these feelings on a daily basis?It means you re a writer. Written with a unique empathy and deep insight by someone who is both a fellow writer and a noted psychotherapist, Writing from the Inside Out sheds light on the inner life of the writer and shows you positive new ways of thinking about your art and yourself. Palumbo touches on subjects ranging from writer s envy to rejection, from the loneliness of solitude to the joy of craft. Most of all, he leads you to the most empowering revelation of all that you are enough. Everything you need to navigate the often tumultuous terrain of the writer s path and create your best work is right there inside you.

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Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University Review

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(More customer reviews)Want to write true stories that will still be readable five, 10, 20, 50 years from now? Ever talk to someone who told you something that touched your heart, whether it's an experience they had or just a good yarn that you'll think about long after the conversation's over?
These are the kinds of stories this book will show you how to write. The authors won't tell you exactly. That's a path you'll have to find out for yourself. But they'll give you guides, practical tips to learn how to talk and write like you're having a conversation with a reader who wants to know more about your story.
As a working journalist for a mid-sized newspaper in Southwest Virginia, I've read countless of books discussing the techniques of narrative writing. This one ranks high above them. Many of the authors break down the elements of telling good stories. For example, listen to Susan Orlean talk about having voice in your stories: "You can't invent a voice. And you can't imitate someone else's voice, though trying to can be a good exercise. It can lead you to begin to understand the mechanisms that convey the voice. Read your stories out loud so you can hear how you tell stories. As you read, ask yourself: Does it sound real? Would I have said it that way?"
The editors of the book offer nice introductions to each section and tell you who you'll be reading in the next few pages. It reminds me of a book by Stanley Cavell called "Cities of Words," which is presented as a series of lectures in a classroom.
The way this book is put together is similar. It reads like you're in class waiting for a lecture from folks such as Tom Wolfe, Susan Orlean, Tracy Kidder and others. There is no shortage of ideas, approaches to reporting and writing stories and you can't help but think how you would have tackled a famed writer's story if you were in their position. (Probably, not very well. But better, I'm assuming, than those who don't read this book.)
Writing true stories is not the easiest way to spend your time. It can get very frustrating and confusing. That's why this book is important. It has given me a new perspective on how to approach these kinds of stories and that's why I recommend it.

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Inspiring stories and practical advice from America's most respected journalists The country's most prominent journalists and nonfiction authors gather each year at Harvard's Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. Telling True Stories presents their best advice—covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including: • Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story • Gay Talese on writing about private lives • Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles • Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters • Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth • Dozens of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . . The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

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