or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $0.66 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life, The [Hardcover]

Nava Atlas
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

List Price: $18.95
Price: $14.86 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.09 (22%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 11 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Friday, May 24? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

March 11, 2011
Nava Atlas is a popular author who has more than 500,000 copies of her books in print. In this beautifully designed and illustrated book, Nava explores what it is like to live the writing life through the journals, letters, and diaries of twelve celebrated women writers, including such renowned authors as Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Madeleine LEngle, Anais Nin, George Sand, Edith Wharton, and Virginia Woolf. Navas own insightful commentary lifts the curtain on these womens lives and provides reassuring tips and advice on such subjects as dealing with rejection, money matters, and balancing family with the solitary writing process that will resonate with women writers in todays world. With 100+ vintage photos, illustrations, and ephemera, this book is a splendid gift book for writers.

Frequently Bought Together

Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life, The + The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life
Price for both: $24.33

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

Review

The terrain navigated by women writers has both gender-specific pitfalls and advantages. The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life, explores this varied landscape using the letters, memoirs, interviews, and diaries of twelve exceptional authors from different eras. Each writer is revealed as having approached her profession with a personal motivation, a characteristic attitude, and a desire to write that surpassed the majority of her peers. Superbly illustrated with 130 images black-and-white photos, drawings, and memorabilia...as enjoyable as it is informative. --ForeWord

Nava's insightful commentary lifts the curtain on these women's lives and provides reassuring tips and advice on such subjects as dealing with rejection, money matters, and balancing family with the solitary writing process that will resonate with women writers in today's world. This inspirational book is punctuated with photographs, letters, drawings and other illustrations. It makes a splendid gift book for writers or yourself. --The Muffin

Nava proves that the lives and lessons of those classic women writers resonate with contemporary female writers. The book is a stunningly beautiful compilation, featuring photographs and illustrations in chapters focused upon topics including Becoming a Writer, Developing a Voice, Tools of the Trade, Conquering Inner Demons, and Rejection and Acceptance. --Colloquium

Wouldn't it be great to have Willa Cather, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen or Anais Nin all hanging out in your kitchen, offering you support and wisdom, food for thought to continue on? I can turn to any page and find inspiration, guidance, and wisdom from some of the most amazing writers of the last two centuries. --Alexandra Jamieson (Oprah-featured author and co-star of the Oscar-nominated hit movie Super Size Me), Delicious Vitality (deliciousvitality.com)

I've only read through the book once and already my copy has those post-it flags all along the sides signaling places for me to come back to when I need a literary kick in the pants. -- Katie Sluiter, Katie's Bookcase (katiesbookcase.com)

The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life is the type of book that a writer will turn to again and again over the years for encouragement, to be reminded that one s struggle to perfect a written product is not unique, but an experience shared by some of the world's most renowned authors. --J.H. Siess, Colloquium (jhsiess.com)

The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life was for me a series of revelations, about myself as a woman, about myself as a writer, and about myself as a woman writing. Of course I learned a lot of about the ladies Atlas so warmly presented herein, but I learned more about me in the process ... a highly recommended read, and a great gift for the writerly women in your life. --Kristin King, InkThinker (inkthinkerblog.com)

This bountiful literary quilt of quotations and intimate glimpses of writers work lives is an ideal gift for your favorite book mama...or yourself. --Nina Shengold, Chronogram Magazine<br/
That these women are shown to have been vulnerable not only brings them to life, but suggests that the path to writing well lies in the very risky process of actually doing it, not in the over-reaching goal of landing in the literary archives. --Julie Ann Charpentier, ForeWord Reviews

Atlas gifts to us (women writers) a beautiful little tome of relaxation, discovery and tutelage at the hands of the greats. This book is simply a delight that is likely to live on your bedside table or among your favorites. --Allena Tapia, About.com (About.com/Freelance writing)

This bountiful literary quilt of quotations and intimate glimpses of writers work lives is an ideal gift for your favorite book mama...or yourself. Nina Shengold, Chronogram Magazine
That these women are shown to have been vulnerable not only brings them to life, but suggests that the path to writing well lies in the very risky process of actually doing it, not in the over-reaching goal of landing in the literary archives. Julie Ann Charpentier, ForeWord Reviews
Atlas gifts to us (women writers) a beautiful little tome of relaxation, discovery and tutelage at the hands of the greats. This book is simply a delight that is likely to live on your bedside table or among your favorites. --Allena Tapia, About.com (About.com/Freelance writing)

About the Author

Nava Atlas is best known (at least for now!) as the author and illustrator of many vegan and vegetarian cookbooks, most recently Vegan Express, Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, The Vegetarian Family Cookbook, and The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet. In addition to cookbooks, Nava also produces visual books on family themes, humor, and women's issues. Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife (April 2009) is a satiric look at contemporary marriage and motherhood in the form of a faux 1950s cookbook. Nava is also a fine artist. Her work is shown and collected by museums and universities across the U.S. Her home is in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, where she lives with her husband and two sons. You can see here work at navaatlas.com

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Sellers Publishing Inc (March 11, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416206329
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416206323
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nava Atlas is the author and illustrator of many vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, most recently Wild About Greens, Vegan Holiday Kitchen, Vegan Express, and Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons. Her earlier books include Vegetarian Family Cookbook and The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet.

In addition to cookbooks, Nava also produces visual nonfiction books including The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life (2011; http://www.literaryladiesguide.com), exploring first-person narratives on the writing lives of twelve classic women authors, and commenting on the universal relevance of their experiences to all women who love to write. Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife (2009) is a satiric look at contemporary marriage and motherhood through the lens of a faux 1950s cookbook.

Nava is also an active fine artist specializing in limited edition artist's books and text-driven objects. Her work is shown and collected by museums and universities across the U.S. You can see her work at http://navaatlasart.com. Her home is in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
(14)
4.8 out of 5 stars
3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Gem of a Book April 8, 2011
By Rachel
Format:Hardcover
There's so much to love about this book, from the gorgeous layout that makes it a pleasure to page through, to the insightful comments by the author. I'm a writer who loves literature, and I've been keeping this book on my bedside table to enjoy a few pages each night. It's pure delight to read what these special ladies had to say about their work, their process, and their life. This book is an inspiration.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Ladies Is A True Inspiration for Writers March 28, 2011
Format:Hardcover
I hungrily devoured Literary Ladies" Guide to The Writing Life. Like Nava, I spent my childhood writing, drawing, and reading. As the child of parents who owned a bookstore and who got my first library card for me when I was only 2, reading was an obsession for me. When I was in elementary school, as an advanced reader, I was already enjoying the works of the women writers in Literary Ladies. I tried to use their works as models for my own writing and felt a kinship with women writers even if they had lived a long time before me or in different places. I felt as if we were sisters and that is a powerful connection for a child who longs to be a writer.

Reading this book has drawn up a wellspring of love for these women from my childhood days of admiration. I feel that I know them a lot better now. Isn't it amazing how a writer who one holds in awe actually felt the same fear and doubt about her work (which was so good it is now a classic and taught in college classrooms!) as we do about ours? Their advice is good and it is fascinating to see how they swept the challenges that faced women in their lifetimes out of the way to create these masterpieces?

I highly recommend this book to anyone (not just women) who admire the beautiful literary works of these writers , to those who love to write, even if only just for herself, and for those who dare to dream of great things and would like some encouragement. This is a lovely, inspiring book that reads like a conversation with an old friend. Kudos to Nava Atlas for creating this masterpiece and just one request- Nava, please, will you write a Literary Ladies' Guide to The Writing Life Part 2?!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars What Writers Really Think March 23, 2011
By M. Webb
Format:Hardcover
When an author's name has become synonymous with success it seems impossible to think that they ever shared our worries: rejection, writer's block, money, even parenting. Not only does The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life share the writers' thoughts and Nava's commentary but it is also punctuated with dozens of photographs of the 12 authors, their homes, families, and more. These excerpts from 12 classic writers' journals, letters and interviews is a new way of looking beyond the writer's work to the person they were.

The Literary Ladies is a book you won't be able to stop reading and will find yourself reading again and again--the 12 writers your own personal pep squad. You'll find yourself marking favorite pages where the writers seem to be speaking directly to you. Every writer--male or female--will enjoy this peek behind the curtain at the secret thoughts of writers.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Literary Ladies Guide
It is definitely interesting reading the thoughts of the famous female writers now deceased. Especially as they talk about rejection from publishers and sometimes family or... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Shannon M. Mcgee
5.0 out of 5 stars The struggles of writing as experienced by some of the female...
Writing is a passion that latches onto your mind and will rarely let go, even the best and most successful writers have struggled through rejection letters, fear of failure and the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Charles Ashbacher
5.0 out of 5 stars A Compleat Art Book of Women Authors
Nava Atlas has both designed (with Amy Papaelias) and written a book as artfully and informative as any book on the lives and ideas of women authors through time. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Grady Harp
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Way to Spend a Morning
Thank you to the publisher for sending me this lovely book. Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life shares excerpts of advice and recommendations from famous literary women on... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Debnance at Readerbuzz
4.0 out of 5 stars Chic Lit to the Extreme
It's hard today to be a 'writer' and the label 'author' can only be ascribed to those lucky few who can make a living at it. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Carla C. Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Reading
Being a full time writer, I continue to keep up on books on my profession. I came across this one and wanted to check it out. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Bodnar
5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just For Writers
Nava Atlas shares the writing ups and downs of twelve well-known authoresses in her delightful book, "The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life". Read more
Published 24 months ago by C. Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Ladies: Motivation for Literary Women Everywhere..
Nava Atlas is a well-known cookbook author. The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life is a departure but in it, she offers us the ingredients twelve famous female writers... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Mindy Lawrence
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic find.
This informative and gorgeous book provides incredible history, perspective and inspiration from the likes of Jane Austen to Virginia Woolf. Read more
Published on May 3, 2011 by Ash
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and entertaining
All of Nava's hard work and research has paid off, giving all of us -- writers, women, non-writers, non-women! Read more
Published on April 26, 2011 by Daphne Uviller
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category