Customer Reviews

The Graceful Lie: A Method for Making Fiction

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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I can say, without hisitation, that THE GRACEFUL LIE is a wonderful book. I was at first drawn and intrigued by the title. I am psychotherapist who specializes in working with children and adolescents. (I am also an author and lover of books, especially fiction.) Many of the children I work with have been accused of lying when it was clear to me that they were making up pretty imaginative stories, much like the ones that Petracca describes in his personal introduction. In my work I focus quite a bit on encouraging children, including adolescents, to develop stories out of the drawings, clay pieces, sand tray scenes they make. I see these stories as rich metaphors for their own lives and often it is through these stories that I am able to guide them to articulate significant personal information, as well as to express deep, locked up feeings. Sometimes we write down these stories. THE GRACEFUL LIE has actually reinforced and enhanced my approach to doing therapy.

I guess as a psychotherapist I am biased toward the projective value of stories. Personally I know that the stories I read and hang onto are definitely ones that touch some aspect of my life and tell me quite a bit about myself. In my work with adults as well as children I have encouraged clients to tell me about their loved books, and I have encouraged them to read many. As an author I write about my work with young people and present many of the stories that children tell as examples of therapeutic work. I notice that when I tell these stories--and in the telling I inevitably incorporate some fiction--people who read them, or hear them when I give presentations, are moved and enlightened. THE GRACEFUL LIE has broadened my perspective and understanding regarding the value of stories.

I loved reading the pieces Petracca chose to include. Some I had read before and read them now with new insight; others were new gifts to me. Petracca's love and talent for writing clearly come through in every one of his comments. And his writing is interesting to read. I have deep gratitude to Petracca for enriching my life through the writing of THE GRACEFUL LIE.

Moving from one genre of writing to another can be difficult: I'm a journalist wanting to write fiction. Despite consultations with other books, I always seem to get hung up on plot development for the mystery book I harbor inside my head. The Graceful Lie has helped me hatch an escape route to get those ideas out of my head and into my computer. I particularly like the writing samples Petracca provides, and his overall tone, which is light, instructive and helpful. For example, the practical guidance in chapter 4 laid out clearly how out to deal with plot, my own biggest challenge. I find that after reading these suggestions, examples, and discussions, I feel better prepared to complete my mystery novel. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's got the yearning to write good fiction.

The Graceful Lie has finally broken down my disabling illusions to expose the beauty and essence of writing. I've always wanted to learn to write. I've taken courses, joined writer's groups and read numerous repetitive and often discouraging books on the subject. Petracca's take on it is accessible and deeply imbued with honest appreciation and intelligence. He clearly has a firm knowledge of fiction's form and function. The book has given me new impatience to get back in the trenches of the writing endeavor. Graceful lying is an art form I can believe in and aspire to once again. I thank you Michael Petracca and the many I've recommended your book to also thank you.

For many years poetry has been my medium of expression, but in the last few years I've returned to writing fiction again. Having Michael Petracca's book as a compendium to return to again and again has been wonderful. I have felt encouraged and validated to experiment with form and language. His ideas make sense and provide me with enough structure to try new things, look critically at what I'm doing, and lie, lie, lie, hopefully with grace. I appreciate his sense of playfulness and wonder at what one can create when one trusts the process of writing, getting stuck, becoming unstuck, and moving through those tricky dance steps of words on paper. I also find that I am a more critical and appreciative reader of others' writing. I recommend Michael Petracca's book to anyone wanting to know about the craft of fiction, either to enhance and facilitate one's own writing or to see how others go about it.

The Graceful Lie is a thoroughly refreshing textbook. Not only is the textbook educational, it is also entertaining. Mr. Petracca skillfully guides the reader through the seemingly endless maze of fiction writing with wit and humor. This is one textbook that will not put the reader to sleep. Take it from a student who has had to pour through numerous textbooks, The Graceful Lie is a textbook that is well worth its price!

When I stumbled upon "The Graceful Lie" in my local bookstore, it was a delightful surprise. This is a gem of a book! In my opinion any student wanting to improve his/her writing can benefit from Michael Petracca's expertise. This comprehensive text teaches all the important elements of fiction. With a quiet wit and subtle Zen perspective Mr. Petracca guides the beginning writer, or the not so beginning writer, through the characteristics of fictional genres, which he then grounds in writing exercises that deepen the learning experience. But what I loved most about this book was the tender encouragement Michael Petracca offers to the often fretful writer. One can feel his empathetic soul leaping off the page. Being a creative writing teacher, I have now incorporated this text into my curriculum. I'm dusting off my pom-poms and shaking them at you Michael Petracca. Well Done!

As a new elemetary school teacher, I am always looking for interesting ways to inspire young minds in the writing process. I set out to write a unit for fourth and fifth graders on the craft of science fiction writing. Initially I had little luck finding just the right book that I could adapt to meet the needs of my students. However, Petracca's Graceful Lie presented me with exactly what I needed to provide the children with a step by step model of writing the perfect science fiction story. This book was put to a true test as I attempted to channel the creativity of children by introducing a new writing genre in the classroom...and it passed with flying colors!

The Graceful Lie is an inspirational change from the typical fiction writing textbook. Petracca's enthusiasm for the craft is clearly evident throughout the work, and this enthusiasm pushes the reader to emulate it. The exercises provided in the book are unique, and encourage the reader to expand their skills in a multitude of ways. The Graceful Lie is effective enough to turn a medium to large sized lemur into an epic novelist. The small lemurs just can't seem to get a handle on symbolism, but their work is hardly worth noting anyhow.

The content included is marvelous, with a wide range of genres included. Specific perspectives on the creation process provide a unique approach amongst textbooks. The style brought to this book by Petracca makes it both an extremely useful tool, and true enjoyment to read. Ordinarily textbooks, if read at all, are just something to later tear apart in a bitter frenzy to celebrate the completion of a course, however this one is enjoyable and practical enough to enjoy a long life of usefulness.

Mr. Petracca tries to force feed a premise that he himself negates in the opening paragraph of his introduction. While maintaining that fiction is equivalent to lying, he readily admits that fiction "embodies essential human truths in ways that other kinds of written expression can't." In the beginning of every novel that I have ever read, it is clearly noted that the characters, setting, etc. are fictional; and it is agreed generally that fiction is not written to present 'facts as known' but to portray truths about the human condition. Given all that, where is the lie? While it is readily apparent that Mr. Petracca is not trying to diminish fiction, it is just as apparent that he is himself smugly self-satisfied, convinced that he is one very clever fellow. But time and again he reveals that he is far more glib than knowledgeable (except by the formalists, ambiguity is *not* generally considered a desirable trait in art; yes, it *is* necessary to think when writing fiction; understanding can, in fact, not save one single, solitary soul) and his references to his own predictable lifestyle are tiresome. Still, the selection of writings by other authors is good, and the exercises are useful. If Mr. Petracca would stay at home with his Merlot and let someone else fill the spaces between the selected writings and the exercises, the book would come much closer to being worth about half the robber-baron price put on it by Prentice Hall.