Customer Reviews

Cheek by Jowl

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Le Guin continues to write lucidly, perceptively and with her trademark combination of gentle humor and firm opinions in this series of essays on writing for children (of all ages). The title essay is an expansion of previous lectures and essays and makes me want to head for the children's section of the library to reread old classics and get acquainted with new ones. The first essay on fantasy writing for children is succinct, the essence of how she writes, and should be required reading for everyone.

You may or may not be enthralled by LeGuin's fiction, but this engaging collection of her thoughts on fantasy, the imagination, children's literature (she lists some of the best!!!) and the Young Adult category devised by publishers ("require a ptotagonist who is over 12 and under 20:") is worth every penny you pay for it. Make sure your kids have been exposed to the masterworks (and I do not exaggerate) on her list. Ann of Rhode Island

Ursula K. Le Guin is not only one of the greatest writers of our time, but also a very aware of why and what she writes, and this collection of essays and lectures proves it.
I found this book enlightening and informative. The short essay "A message about messages" helped me clarify some doubts I had as a narrator myself, and "Cheek by jowl: animals in children's literature" (the longest chapter) made want to read some of the books reccommended in it. Overall, the books makes you ponder about the value of fantasy and the so-called "realistic" literature, and what role does meaning play in that.
I liked the fact that she chose a painting from my country to exemplify some concepts and to illustrate the cover!
It disaponted me a bit that I already had read some of the chapters, but I think is an advantage to have them all complied.
Ursula must be the wisest fantasy writer alive.

"Cheek by Jowl" is a short collection of speeches, worked out into essays, delivered by the world famous science fiction and fantasy author Ursula le Guin. The essays connect two themes close to her heart: first, the legitimacy and importance of fantasy as a genre and respecting it on its own terms, and secondly, literature for children and young adults. She defends both categories (and their overlap) passionately, refuting the usual charges of childishness, escapism, 'genre fiction' being inherently inferior, and so forth. The main part of the book is taken up by the title essay, a lengthy analysis of the role of animals in children's and young adult literature and what this tells us about the moral and imaginative meaning such literature can have for us, with reference to everything from Black Beauty to Alice in Wonderland. Although most of the essays are fairly brief and not very 'deep', Le Guin's comments on fantasy and imaginative literature generally are often accurate and well phrased. Interesting for people who enjoy young adult novels past that age and/or those who want to read Le Guin's ideas on literature. For more of the latter, see also "The Wave in the Mind" (The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination).

As a fan of LeGuin and a fan of fantasy I really enjoyed this book.

Ursula K. Le Guin shares her wisdom in this collection of original essays, previously published articles, and revised or expanded versions of talks she's given over the past five years to organizations like the American Library Association. I appreciate finding the essays collected all in one volume.

Ursula LeGuin is one of our very best fantasy and science fiction writers. Her novels are all five-stars. But this collection was cobbled together without adequate editing and rewriting. The pieces, about the nature of fantasy, are repetitive, unrevealing, and a bore. LeGuin should stick to what she does superlatively well---story telling with anthropological and metaphysical underpinnings.