Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle Reading App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Android
To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Best Books of the Year So Far
Looking for something great to read? Browse our editors' picks for 2015's Best Books of the Year So Far in fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, children's books, and much more.
$11.85
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
Frequently Bought Together
{"currencyCode":"USD","itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":11.85,"ASIN":"0156027917","moqNum":1,"isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":12.22,"ASIN":"0156619180","moqNum":1,"isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":9.39,"ASIN":"0156907399","moqNum":1,"isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"0156027917::5GhyJABXramMZfERiwDnhBrig1Lz2Vgu1QFZFrdh4K4qmZwHeMXa6xQY3lLZM2JGmnMArj1jMSkC49fTxiCc3Rj1G97Rgkl4CeDq5aZHBWc%3D,0156619180::dPCbdrQVgqaAh%2BdPv%2BNRwGf05DNld7YZjOjCnxOcJ1Vih1jOZ5D057Q5w9vQ7xS8VlJZHFSdOS%2Bezotu9hzIgkuDRr8yc5Cs1uCju55OkWQ%3D,0156907399::6OJW6KeeQu4BgfGWMbncfzurp2mTp0tLyL8LgIxrTJWgYY30k29JX2jui4oKJ%2Be8UBQyyBpOVqT0tzkWz6FC%2BLXEdXSYnXXV3K6kx%2Frt6SY%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"shippingDetails":{"xz":"same","xy":"same","yz":"same","xyz":"same"},"tags":["x","y","z","w"],"strings":{"addToWishlist":["Add to Wish List","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List","Add all four to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart","Add all four to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:","Price For All Four:"],"preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items","Pre-order all four items"]}}
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.
A WRITER'S DIARY: BEING EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF VIRGINIA WOOLF Edited by Leonard Woolf was in a tradition I love, the practical and inspirational inner life of writers recorded in diaries or letters. Within pages of starting it, I was already back to regular journal writing myself. This volume includes entries from Monday, August 4, 1918, to Sunday, March 8, 1941, within four days of her suicide by drowning.
The real value of this book, I think, which was heavily edited by her husband to protect people still living, I'm told, is that it clearly spells out the troubles and mental burdens of the writer that she was. I loved reading about her processes in writing books of hers that I have read, ORLANDO, TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, MRS. DALLOWAY. (I forgot the affection I held for Mrs. Dalloway until I read about her writing it, and I just felt love for that book all over again.)
One can see the practical issues a writer faces, and I think this book performs the valuable service of illustrating that creative work is WORK, that it doesn't just rise from a magical well of talent and become complete -- voila! -- in the world. She frets about sales, about timing, about editing, about what her friends, Lytton Strachey, Morgan (E.M. Forster) and Tom (T.S. Eliot) will say. What the reviewers will understand of what she was trying to do, what her method should be, etc. It's a vivid account of the pain of creation. And she reminds herself each time a book comes out that she goes through these stages of happiness, dejection and waiting every time she publishes. When her book THREE GUINEAS came out, referring to the media response, she wrote from her home in the countryside, "It's true I have a sense of quiet and relief. But no wish to read reviews, or hear opinions...Read more ›
4 Comments
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
This is one of the greatest books ever compiled/edited (here, by the brilliant Leonard Woolf-too often completely disregarded for his own unique editorial genius) after Virginia Woolf's most tragic suicide. What you will learn from this book is the spectacularly heroic efforts VW expended moment to moment, hour to hour, day to day, month to month, year to year, and decade to decade to prevail over those inner demons by utilizing her great gift of writing herself out. This is an extraordinary Masterpiece in English Literature as well. A must-have for anyone with even a scintilla of understanding about Bi-Polar Illness and Depression insofar as how torturously difficult it can be to simply carry on...let alone glitter like the Heavenly star VW surely was. Oh - and as long as her books are still in print, I don't see her as really "gone" at all.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
After coming across of a mention of Virginia Woolf in another book. I decided to check out some of her writing at the local library. I came across this book and picked it up. I had heard of Virginia Woolf, but had never read any of other writing. I feel like I have much in common with Ms. Woolf. I too, have the heart of a writer. I know well what she means when she talks about books that scream to be written. I also enjoyed reading critiques of books that I've also read. I also found it fascinating to read about how she came with the idea for each of her books and the process of writing each one.
The fact that Ms. Woolf was bipolar is also clear in this book. There are times when she is almost frenzied with energy and passion, and other times, when she is so down in the dumps she can barely function. Even though, I am not bipolar, I know what a struggle it can be to live with depression and how much of an impact it can have on your writing and your ability to concentrate and write. That is something I struggle with myself.
I found this book to be a very enjoyable read. I definitely plan on checking to see if I can locate more of her books at the library.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Reading Virginia Woolf's "A Writer's Diary" along with Hermione Lee's biography of Virginia Woolf together greatly enriched my understanding of and appreciation for Virginia Woolf. Wonderful to hear her thoughts as she sustained a long practice and prodigious production of both non-fiction and fiction work. "A Writer's Diary" spans many years and clearly shows her powerful intellect and also what courage it takes to keep writing even in the midst of insecurity of the work being good or worthwhile. Well worth owning this book. It's a volume that I find myself returning to repeatedly.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Virginia Woolf is not only one of our greatest writers, but a writer's writer. And therefore, as a writer myself, having this book in my library is, I believe, essential. I couldn't put it down from the moment I began reading, and found myself transferring many passages of Ms. Woolf's Diary to my own Diary for future reference. Sheri Nelson Maclean
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
I studied Virginia Woolf many years ago in school, and recently purchased this book. Reading the diaries makes me want to go back and reread her work. They offer a lot of insight into her books, and for writers they provide a great perspective on how to receive criticism, how to tap into the flow of a book, and some great day-to-day advice on the life of a writer.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
![]({"http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41xdZvs3UDL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[221,346],"http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41xdZvs3UDL._SX316_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[318,499]})
