There is craft and there is cunning. There is the struggle to get published at all. But there is also the chance that you will do something extraordinary. Peter Selgin illustrates the tricks, both basic and sophisticated. But greatness is what he's really interested in. He thrusts the readers into the company of those who wrote magnificently. Salinger is quoted, Hemingway, Thomas Mann, E.M. Forster, John Gardner. "This book is for serious writers of all levels," he writes in the beginning, and he's talking about intentions. If you mean to shoot for the stars, then this book is for you.
--Benjamin Cheever, author of The Plagiarist, The Partisan (both New York Times Best Books), Famous After Death, and The Good Nanny
Peter Selgin has written an excellent guide--witty, lucid, well-written--for beginning writers of fiction. In fact, any writer can learn from it.
--Vivian Gornick, author of The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative and Approaching Eye Level
Cunning and craft, indeed: Within these pages Peter Selgin quotes Chekov to the effect that, "The writer's task is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly." What I admire most about By Cunning & Craft is its rare and inspired modesty--an ultimately stylish resistance to pledging more than Selgin (really anyone) can deliver. May many learn from this book.
--Robert Polito, author of Savage Art: A Biography Of Jim Thompson, and Director of the New School Graduate Writing Program
Writing fiction is a matter of choices, decisions that shape the imagination. No one clarifies those choices more effectively than Peter Selgin in By Cunning & Craft. He demystifies the alternatives through straightforward explanations and illustrations. By showing the options, by suggesting which are most effective for specific situations, and by demonstrating through examples, Selgin gives writers the resources to structure their creativity.
--Walter Cummins, Editor, The Literary Review
Along with the great advice, Selgin is pure pleasure to read.
--Alexander Steele, Dean of Faculty, Gotham Writers' Workshop
By Cunning & Craft is a masterpiece of writing about writing. If, like Scheherazade, you had to spin out a story under threat of death, this is the how-to book to read. It's filled with thoughtful, nuanced advice from a teacher/writer who actually writes--and writes beautifully and with great humor. The list of rejected stories is worth the price of the whole book.
--Nora Gallagher, author of Things Seen and Unseen, Practicing Resurrection, and the forthcoming Changing Light
A wonderfully helpful, thorough, and honest book on writing, By Cunning & Craft is filled with good sense, good advice, and many excellent examples of good writing. A book to read and read again with profit by the beginning, the middle, and the writer of many years.
--Sheila Kohler, author of Cracks, Crossways, and The Children of Pithiviers
