Beginner's Book of Dreams, The [Paperback]

Elizabeth Benedict (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Overweight Esme Singer eats her way into adolescence--as her beautiful, divorced mother boozes and searches for the perfect man, and her irresponsible father promises the moon but delivers nothing. "Benedict's masterful second novel evokes the anxieties of childhood and adolescence with rare clarity," stated PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Esme Singer grows up in the shadow of a beautiful but immature and alcoholic mother. Sadly estranged from her long-distance father, who is always about to cash in on a sure-fire moneymaking scheme, she has little interest in her mother's various husbands and lovers. Esme longs for the stability of her friend Leah's household, although she believes Leah's parents to be intellectually far superior to her. Yet it is Leah's famous photographer father who encourages the adolescent Esme to pursue her talent for photography. Off to art school goes Esme, seeking and finding social and intellectual maturation all at once. Told with humor and sensitivity, Esme's story will appeal to younger women with similar stories. Mary K. Prokop, CEL Regional Lib., Savannah, Ga.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (May 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553347039
• ISBN-13: 978-0553347036
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,253,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Dreams

More About the Author

Elizabeth Benedict is a highly regarded novelist, journalist, teacher of creative writing, editor, and writing coach. She has published five acclaimed novels, including the bestseller ALMOST, a classic book on writing fiction, and hundreds of reviews, essays, and magazine articles. She is the editor of the celebrated anthology, MENTORS, MUSES & MONSTERS: 30 WRITERS ON THE PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES (Excelsior Press, Feb. 2012/Simon & Schuster 2009).

NEWSWEEK and Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan chose her novel, the bestseller ALMOST, as one of the top novels of 2001. Her novels have established her reputation as a writer who "specializes in the subterranean currents of modern relationships, the secret motivations and betrayals that underlie everyday interactions" (Newsday). Hallie Ephron in the Boston Globe called her most recent novel, THE PRACTICE OF DECEIT, "a wickedly funny literary suspense novel" that is "wry, at times heartbreaking, always smart and entertaining." Newsday's reviewer said that Benedict's "wit is as sharp as her eye, and twice as fast. She writes the hard, horrifying truth about human nature, and it is addictively entertaining."

Her first novel, SLOW DANCING, published in 1985, was shortlisted for the National Book Award. She is also the author of several other novels and of a classic book, THE JOY OF WRITING SEX: A GUIDE FOR FICTION WRITERS, which is used widely in writing programs and has been featured on radio shows in the UK and Australia.

She has taught fiction and non-fiction writing at Barnard, the New School, Princeton, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Swarthmore College, and MIT and has written for many publications, including The Huffington Post, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Salmagundi, Esquire, Tin House,Harper's Bazaar, and The American Prospect.

Please visit: www.elizabethbenedict.com for free essays and the latest news. PLEASE NOTE: PHOTO CREDIT BY EMMA DODGE HANSON. CREDIT MUST APPEAR WITH PHOTO.