An unremarkable stroll along the road frequently traveled.
A cornucopia of platitudes about Writing and Life from a bestselling psychologist.
Pipher (Letters to a Young Therapist, 2003, etc.) is an earnest and amiable companion in this text, which belongs on the self-help shelf. It’s chockablock with the conventions of the genre, including shaded-and-boxed inspirational quotations throughout (the writers range from Mother Teresa to Mark Twain), just-plain-folks diction (“There is a place for you at the table”) and a sort of personal-trainer perkiness that makes learning how to write seem somehow like losing weight or firming up your abdominals. The author’s language veers at times into the precious and predictable (“Voice is like a snowflake—complicated, beautiful, and individual”), and the advice rarely advances beyond the patent (carry a little notebook with you, back up your computer files, revise a lot). Nearly every page features allusions to other writers (she advocates and practices this annoying technique) and clichés pervade all. Just about every bromide about writing ever concocted finds an honored place in Pipher’s medicine chest. She urges writing from the heart, offers advice on how to organize and prepare to write (use file cabinets!), comments on such topics as employing metaphors (be sure they’re fresh!) and conducting interviews (let your subject talk!), explains how to write more effective letters of persuasion (don’t show off!), how to make better speeches (think about your audience!) and compose more powerful personal essays (share your epiphanies!). The author concludes with some thoughts on blogging and on composing poetry and music. “Songs,” she notes, “are often inspired by intense feelings.” And poetry? Well, think of a fresh metaphor to describe it. How about snowflakes! “Poetry has the gossamer quality of a snowflake and the power of a sword.”
An unremarkable stroll along the road frequently traveled.Pub Date: April 20, 2006
ISBN: 1-59448-920-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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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