Customer Reviews

Nonconformity

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nelson Algren was one of a kind... or was he? In this wonderful volume, we see that Algren suffered with those who suffered for their individuality and seethed at those who would smother it in any of us, artists or not. This is a very quick read, and has been edited (which I know thanks for an amazing Afterword) for perfect clarity. He wrote this in the '50s, and so some of his references are unfamiliar -- but HA! No problem, because the editors have made extensive footnotes about these references, footnotes which are interesting reading in their own right. If you care about American literature, politics, or freedom, reading this book will help you see you're the latest in a long line of brilliantly similar-minded people.

This book stalks sure footed through the dense thicket of modern American literature, with The Novel and Nelson Algren firmly at its center. It is at once entirely personal and, sonehow, universal at the same time. What it has to say about about writing evokes the kindred spirit shared by all great writiers, vastlty differing though thier style and temperments might be. Each exquisitely realized chapter is peppered with excerpts of their prose in such a way that it fairly leaps off the page, providing a critical mass of context and vibrancy to the very difficult subject of what it is that writers do and do best. Get it. Read it. Love it. I certainly did.

This book stalks sure footed through the dense thicket of modern American literature, with The Novel and Nelson Algren firmly at its center. It is at once entirely personal and, sonehow, universal at the same time. What it has to say about about writing evokes the kindred spirit shared by all great writiers, vastlty differing though thier style and temperments might be. Each exquisitely realized chapter is peppered with excerpts of their prose in such a way that it fairly leaps off the page, providing a critical mass of context and vibrancy to the very difficult subject of what it is that writers do and do best. Get it. Read it. Love it. I certainly did.

I've been writing for ten years and this book has become a bible for me. I planned on reading one chapter one night before going to bed, and instead stayed up until dawn reading it and thinking about what the author's compelling essays. It's the best book I've ever read about the art of writing and the responsibility of writers.

It used to be much easier to submit reviews. These days every company pretends like its website is the only one people will ever visit on the web. Gack.