Novel Voices: 17 Award-Winning Novelists on How to Write, Edit, and Get Published [Paperback]

Kevin Rabalais (Author), Jennifer Levasseur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

Novel Voices provides a rare glimpse into the writing lives of 15 contemporary award-winning authors. It includes interviews with acclaimed novelists Charles Baxter, Richard Ford, Ernest J. Gaines, Tim Gautreaux, Elizabeth McCracken, Valerie Martin, Charles Johnson and others. Throughout the book, Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais include a host of informative, how-to sidebars on improving prose and breaking into publishing. Readers will find all the tips and inspiration they need to finish their novels and short stories and get a jumpstart on publication.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"When we met [the authors] in restaurants, hotels, offices or their homes, they all opened themselves to us in surprising ways. In the middle of an Oklahoma thunderstorm, Ha Jin expressed his feelings of camaraderie with the long-dead masters of literature. Richard Bausch and Charles Baxter took us on car tours of their fictional settings. Tim Gautreaux joined us for po-boys at one of his hangouts, a place that seemed to spring from the pages of his fiction. Elizabeth McCracken took us along to pick up her dry cleaning. We drove to the airport with Ann Patchett's dog perched on our laps."

About the Author

Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais are both associate editors of the Florida-based literary journal Hogtown Creek Review. Their interviews with American novelists have appeared in The Missouri Review, Glimmer Train Stories, The Kenyon Review, and Tin House.

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582972451
• ISBN-13: 978-1582972459
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,513,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Note to writers: get this one on your shelf, May 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Novel Voices: 17 Award-Winning Novelists on How to Write, Edit, and Get Published (Paperback)

As a writer I'm always curious about knowing how other writers go about their work, how they do what they do. Unfortunately, I think most interviewers don't think so much like writers---they think like readers, fans. And while that's all well and good, it makes for run-of-the-mill exchanges. But this "Novel Voices" is much different. Levassuer and Rabalais not only know a thing or two about writing, they're also very talented interviewers and editors. The writers here give up a remarkable amount of the bare-bones stuff of story telling, writing. It's not the ABC's of writing, not a reference book; the writers contemplate the choices they make during their story making, detail their weaknesses and tell us how they write their stories out of trouble. Good stuff for other writers to think about. The editors also get this from their subects: their generosity. I have my favorite interviews---McCracken and Dubus to name two. But for inspiration, warmth and good common sense, plus perfect edting, read the Bausch interview. Doesn't get better than that one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, March 8, 2004

By 

Katherine (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Novel Voices: 17 Award-Winning Novelists on How to Write, Edit, and Get Published (Paperback)

This book is pretty good for what it is but has a few inconsistancies and quirks (might not be the right word) that people might want to be aware of. One is that all of the writer's interviewed seem to:

a) Write realistic, mostly literary, fiction
b) Hold degrees in creative writing

A number of them it seems are also southern, although admittedly I haven't finished the collection. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of these things. I'm not opposed to realistic or literary fiction. My own fiction is non-speculative and hopefully to a certain degree literary. Nor do I have a problem with creative writing programs or southern writers. I simply wish the people putting the book together had thought to seek out a more diverse group. It might have made the collection more interesting.
Secondly, although the book is titled Novel Voices, there is more than one question asked on the state of short fiction, which though admittedly an important topic, I believe should have been saved for something else and replaced with a more appropriate question relating to novel writing.
Pet peeves aside, these are more detailed and intriguing interviews than one tends to come across. It does offer some insights into the writing process and, yes, if I had the chance to go back and decide whether to buy it again, I would.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insights for readers as well as writers, June 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Novel Voices: 17 Award-Winning Novelists on How to Write, Edit, and Get Published (Paperback)

Some collections of writer interviews can get a bit academic, but Novel Voices is a very stimulating read. It includes a diverse range of contemporary American writers, from the difficult (Gass) to the delightful (McCracken), and there are lots of interesting insights to be found here - honest opinions, thoughtful answers and inside information. It made me want to read more, and explore the work of writers with whom I'm less familiar. Highly recommended.