Customer Reviews

Hired Pens: Professional Writers In America'S Golden Age Of Print

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Professor Weber, Notre Dame University, has filled in a gap in the history of American letters which is a must for two segments of the reading public: (1) aficiandos of American literature and the history thereof, and,(2)those who aspire to write (who according to the book make up all but about 10 million of the American population). For the former, the book will serve to not only inform, but entertain. Several giants of American literature made their spurs as hired pens, from Poe, to Crane, to Upton Sinclair, and even Papa Hemingway, supporting their writing habits with articles and hack work, albeit "irridescent" and "inspired" hack work. For category (2), those who would hit the lottery by publishing that first big best seller, "Hired Pens" may be their "...liberation from a grand delusion."-- namely, that they can write -- and they can then go about their lives in a useful profession. The reality of the writing life is anything but a mandarin-style life of leisure in a Tuscan villa. Even for the most successful authors, writing is depicted as an unrelenting grind, overshadowed by anxieties about one's hard work being rejected, and the next pay check. One sets aside this book wondering what literature is. Where does hack work cross over into literature? Some of the professional writers depicted in Weber's book were astoundingly productive, writing hundred of stories and novels with eloquence and verve, and able to tailor their style and subject matter to suit the editor and, hence, the reading audience. If anything, Weber's book takes the mystery out of writing. We leave you, dear reader, with the following advice (quoted by Weber)from author Frank Norris: 12. Don't write a colonial novel. 13. Don't write a Down East Novel. ...15. Don't write a novel. 16. Try to keep your friends from writing novels.