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OK...so I'm taking AP English next year, and I'm supposed to read a memoir about some writer. I can choose. Here are my choices:
BIRD BY BIRD by Ann Lamont ON WRITING by Stephen King NEGOTIATING WITH THE DEAD...A WRITER ON WRITING by Margaret Atwood BECOMING A WRITER by Dorothea Brande THE FAITH OF A WRITER: LIFE, CRAFT, ART by Joyce Carol Oates. LIVING TO TELL THE TALE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by David Eggers A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN by Virginia Woolf ONE WRITER'S BEGINNING or ON WRITING by Eudora Welty
Does anyone know anything about any of these books, or have a recommendation as to which one is good?
Posts: 755 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Stephen King's On Writing is very good, and has helped me more than both of OSC's writing books did. The book is honest, about the bad and scary stuff as much as the cool interesting stuff. I think that's what I find so apealing in king's writing in general, that he doesn't sugar coat the ugly stuff, and he doesn't skirt around it, either. If only I could learn to be so Honest.
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I took the AP this year, and I find the diff methods of preperations unecessary. You have to be creative, familiar with literature, but you dont need to pour yourself over this AP. If you can write well, and get the general gist of a poem, you will do fine. Good luck - have fun with the course, its really great.
Posts: 1604 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'm suprised that On Writing helped you so much, kwsni. I think the editing part was good, but Card's books were much better from the story creation aspect--King basically just says to come up with a concept and then wing it.
I was suprised to be dissapointed by Dorthea Brand's On Becoming A Writer. Ray Bradbury waxed poetic about it in the excellent Zen in the art of Writing, so I ordered it with eagerness, but never even finished it.
I'd be curious about Margaret Atwood's book, but haven't read it.
Posts: 1894 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Language of the Night by Ursula LeGuin is a good writing book as well, and I really thought it was interesting to hear from her about her creative processes.
On writing seemed good as a general book about the craft, but didn't really go into much detail about the actual sreative process. Plus I am not a big King fan. I love his concepts, but I don't like my books spoon-fed to me.
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I'd advise against Negotiating With the Dead if you are looking for a how-to approach in a manual on writing. This book is culled from a series of lectures, and it reads more like a reminiscence between literary friends than a practical work. I love it, but then I love Atwood's style. If you aren't already a friend, it would likely just irritate you.
Of what I know of your choices, I bet you'd get the most out of Stephen King. Just a guess, though -- I don't know your tastes or needs very well. Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I have a feeling that most of Shlomo's class will be picking Stephen King's book, just because kids his age are more likely to have heard about Stephen King and know who he is.
It's up to him, of course, but I was thinking it might be nice if he tried one of the other memoirs. But since no one in our house has read any of these books, we can't give him any input on what these books are like, or whether he might enjoy reading them.
If anyone can give specific comments on any of the books Shlomo mentioned, I think that might be helpful to him in making his selection. Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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I personally liked the King book. Not so much for the "nuts and bolts" quasi-promise of "follow my lead and you'll be a successful author" as the insight into the livelihood of a favored writer. good stuff.
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A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius by David Eggers
I'm going to read it this summer. I picked it up at a used books store and was so amused by the instructions to read this book and the preface that I immediately bought it. If the entire book is as amusing as the pieces I read then it'll definately be a good read but I can't promise anything since I have only sampled a small portion.
Edit:
Oh I should mention that I did not enjoy Bird by Bird by Lamott. It could be that I just despised the class/teacher when I took it in college but I didn't really find it all that enjoyable and as I recall my friend who was also in the class wasn't too fond of it either.
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