An inflated expansion on an insightful comment from Tom Wolfe (``What's called writer's block is almost always ordinary fear''). Just in case aspiring writers need a few more reasons to descend into a total creative abyss, Keyes (Chancing It: The Meaning of Risk, 1985) suggests a host of terrors that await them. Don't think that problems end when you've gotten words on the page—that's just the beginning. Keyes himself ``slipped into a black trough of despair'' when he sent out his first manuscript, and to this day he finds checking galleys an ``excruciating'' process. The published book can be spoiled by ``goofs'': binding gaffes, overlooked factual errors in the text, typos, even (horrors!) an unflattering author photo on the cover. Writers who succeed in running this gauntlet may find themselves ostracized by their nearest and dearest: ``One reason so many good writers have such tattered personal lives is that they write as if they had no one to protect.'' The cumulative effect of all this seems roughly akin to reminding agoraphobics how many people are murdered in public places. Having pointed out how deep and dark the abyss really is, what sort of help does Keyes offer? Basically, he delivers the same sorts of ideas that crop up in writers' conversations and magazines on a regular basis: Find out what other writers do; develop little rituals that make you feel comfortable (e.g., write at the same time each day, dress in a certain way); meet peers at writers' groups and conferences; figure out what's bothering you and try to look it in the face. This book's most obvious use is as an elaborate detour: Reading it lets writer's-block victims spend hours avoiding their problem while convincing themselves they're grappling with it.
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8050-3188-X
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
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
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
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