Overview
A collection of essays, lectures, and observations on the art of writing fiction from Alice McDermott, winner of the National Book Award and unmatched "virtuoso of language and image" (Rebecca Steinitz, The Boston Globe)
What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction gathers the bestselling novelist Alice McDermottās pithiest wisdom about her chosen art, acquired over a lifetime as an acclaimed writer and teacher of writing.
From technical advice (ācheck that your verbs arenāt burdened by unnecessary hads and wouldsā) to setting the bar (āI expect the fiction I read to carry with it the conviction that it is written with no other incentive than that it must be writtenā), from the demands of readers (ātheyād been given a story with a baby in it, and they damn well wanted that baby accounted forā) to the foibles of public life (āIāve never subscribed to the notion that a film adaptation is the final imprimatur for a work of fiction, despite how often Iāve been told by encouraging friends and strangers, āMaybe theyāll make a movie of your novel,ā as if Iād been aiming for a screenplay all along but somehow missed the mark and wrote a novel by mistakeā), McDermott muses trenchantly and delightfully about the craft of fiction.
She also serves throughout as the artful conductor of a literary chorus, quoting generously from the work of other great writers (including Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Nabokov, Morrison, and Woolf ), beautifully joining her voice with theirs. These stories of lessons learned and books read, and of the terrors and the joys of what she calls āthis mad pursuit,ā form a rich and valuable sourcebook for readers and writers alike: a deeply charming meditation on the unique gift that is literature.
This book title, What About the Baby? (Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction) - 9781250849229, ISBN: 9781250849229, by Alice McDermott, published by Picador (August 16, 2022) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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