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THE WORKSHOP

SEVEN DECADES OF THE IOWA WRITERS' WORKSHOP--42 STORIES, RECOLLECTIONS, AND ESSAYS ON IOWA'S PLACE IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE

Three-and-a-half dozen grade-A short stories, as hatched in one of the country’s premier academic incubators of creativity. This immense, impressive collection is edited by Tom Grimes, a novelist (City of God, 1995, etc.) and Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad who heads the creative-writing program at Southwest Texas State University. It joins three other books on the Iowa Writers” Workshop published this year: Steve Wilbur’s and Robert Dana’s companion volumes from Iowa Press, and Frank Conroy’s from HarperCollins. The Iowa books emphasize poetry and the history and dynamics of the Workshop, while Conroy, who wrote the introduction here, focuses on the creative process rather than short stories. This anthology presents Iowa’s finest short fiction, supplemented by author notes on the writing of each piece, essays (often testimonials) about Workshop experiences, and biographical notes. For each winner of a prestigious award, there are contributors whose primary credential is graduation. Grimes’s preface discusses how creativity must be honed in the “tedium of creation,” how the author and the message are secondary to the literary effect, how workshops involve “subtle and not so subtle assassinations of character,” and how “80 percent of writers in the program reported evidence of manic-depression, alcoholism,” or other emotional or addictive problems. The stories are divided by decade since the 1930s, and that of National Book Award—winner and early Iowa star Flannery O’Connor typifies the American genius for ordinary people doing extraordinary things when influenced by great stresses or passions (in “The Comforts of Home”). Even though the pieces show evidence of research and formula writing, the language, description, and plotting of even the Generation-X writers, most notably Lan Samantha Chang and Z Z Packer, are enthralling. These last two gems indicate that Iowa’s future promises to reflect more of America’s multicultural reality. Supporters of M.F.A. programs may resent egg-production metaphors, but it takes a tough writing program to make such tender short stories.

Pub Date: Oct. 20, 1999

ISBN: 0-7868-6503-2

Page Count: 784

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

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