A book of benefit to well-practiced as well as novice writers, full of useful advice, pointers, and prompts.
A welcome vade mecum on the business and art of writing for publication.
“Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.” So growled the prolific sports journalist Red Smith, who had to bleed daily. As Poets & Writers veteran editors Larimer and Gannon note, the business of publishing has changed considerably since Smith’s heyday, but the verities are eternal. “Writing is a lifelong endeavor,” they write, “and one that doesn’t end when you finish a poem, story, essay, or longer writing project.” That is just so, and against that truth and others, they propose sets of “action items,” such as making a list of your personal goals as a writer, at first short-term (daily word count achieved, for instance) and then longer-term career objectives. These items are highly specific: If you want to sign up for an MFA, they write, then research which ones fit your needs best, interview administrators and students, and otherwise do your homework. This specificity is the most helpful part of a book that is altogether instructive, if sometimes a touch discouraging: As Larimer and Gannon are quick to point out, in 2017, the median income for full-time writers was $20,300, a shade south of the poverty line for a family of three. For those willing to brave the long odds, the authors offer a few bits of cheerleading, including the thought that it’s OK to “give yourself permission to brag a bit”—which is to say, if someone asks what you do, call yourself a writer and own it without apology. Among the many highlights of this book for beginning writers is a list of writers’ conferences that appeal to underrepresented constituencies in a publishing world that, because it’s so economically marginal, tends to favor those advantaged enough not to have to worry about income.
A book of benefit to well-practiced as well as novice writers, full of useful advice, pointers, and prompts.Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-2307-9
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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