From the Inside Flap
"A fascinating book by a dedicated master teacher who practices what she preaches, by putting herself on the line and her life vividly on the page, this sophisticated, self-reflexive take on autobiographical writing should clarify and illuminate many of the dark corners of creative nonfiction."--Phillip Lopate
"Lynn Bloom is a rule breaker. Crossing boundaries fluidly and without apology, Bloom weaves together the scholarly and the personal, the literary and the lyrical into essays that are provocative, funny, wise, and irreverent. An academic, an artist, a teacher, a wife and mother, a traveler and cook, Bloom scoops us up and carries us with her deeply intelligent, imaginative, searching, and energetic prose. This collection serves as a call to scholars to humanize their texts, to teachers to personalize their engagement with students, and to writers and readers to dare to allow love, joy, and wisdom to infuse their prose."--Meredith Hall
"This collection of essays is marked with Bloom's unmistakable and lively voice, which is known widely throughout the field of composition studies. Grounded in that professional field, but insisting on not leaving out or leaving behind the roles of wife, mother, daughter, and colleague that surround and support the role of professor of writing, of being both teacher and writer, these essays are a record of a teaching and writing life that has challenged convention and inspired countless others to keep their many selves in focus and in play in their writing, teaching, and living."--Rebecca Faery
"The Seven Deadly Virtues and Other Lively Essays offers a delightful combination of personal and professional history, family stories and academic farce, traumatic episodes and moments of joy. Readers will enjoy true creative nonfiction of the kind Bloom not only preaches but skillfully practices."--Linda H. Peterson
"Bloom likes to tell stories. In this collection, she shares some good ones. And they have to do with herself, for she has taken seriously the philosopher's caution that the unexamined life is not worth living. She is not interested in the 'whopper' but in grasping the truth about her roots, about her time, about herself. In this collection transformed to memoir, Bloom succeeds in making some 'deadly virtues' appealingly alive!"--Joseph M. Flora
From the Back Cover
"A fascinating book by a dedicated master teacher who practices what she preaches, by putting herself on the line and her life vividly on the page, this sophisticated, self-reflexive take on autobiographical writing should clarify and illuminate many of the dark corners of creative nonfiction."--Phillip Lopate
"Lynn Bloom is a rule breaker. Crossing boundaries fluidly and without apology, Bloom weaves together the scholarly and the personal, the literary and the lyrical into essays that are provocative, funny, wise, and irreverent. An academic, an artist, a teacher, a wife and mother, a traveler and cook, Bloom scoops us up and carries us with her deeply intelligent, imaginative, searching, and energetic prose. This collection serves as a call to scholars to humanize their texts, to teachers to personalize their engagement with students, and to writers and readers to dare to allow love, joy, and wisdom to infuse their prose."--Meredith Hall
"This collection of essays is marked with Bloom's unmistakable and lively voice, which is known widely throughout the field of composition studies. Grounded in that professional field, but insisting on not leaving out or leaving behind the roles of wife, mother, daughter, and colleague that surround and support the role of professor of writing, of being both teacher and writer, these essays are a record of a teaching and writing life that has challenged convention and inspired countless others to keep their many selves in focus and in play in their writing, teaching, and living."--Rebecca Faery
"The Seven Deadly Virtues and Other Lively Essays offers a delightful combination of personal and professional history, family stories and academic farce, traumatic episodes and moments of joy. Readers will enjoy true creative nonfiction of the kind Bloom not only preaches but skillfully practices."--Linda H. Peterson
"Bloom likes to tell stories. In this collection, she shares some good ones. And they have to do with herself, for she has taken seriously the philosopher's caution that the unexamined life is not worth living. She is not interested in the `whopper' but in grasping the truth about her roots, about her time, about herself. In this collection transformed to memoir, Bloom succeeds in making some `deadly virtues' appealingly alive!"--Joseph M. Flora
"Lynn Z. Bloom is a remarkable woman: a pioneer in the field of Composition Studies, an honored professor, and a creative writer who understands all too well the importance of personal storytelling. These engaging essays recount the shaping of a life and a career in which critical and imaginative modes of thinking contribute equally and admirably to the writing process. What a pleasure to watch Bloom's spirited consciousness unfold on the page."--Michele Morano
"From her opening engagement with the `slovenly [grammatical] laws' yet virtuous expressions of behavior and character endorsed by the pre-1970s Girl Scouts, Bloom's essays illustrate her smart, honest, skilled word-work and wit. We come to know about the ethics of writing essays and creative nonfiction in an age of massive media manipulation between truth and lies; the rhetorical relationships of an essayist, woman, and teacher; what it means to be an early riser in a new academic field; the theory and practice of degrees of separation and disclosure in the art of writing; the elements and aims of subverting the `masterplot' of academic writing; how (a hatred of) washing floors became a litmus test and metaphor for the making of a long-term, and sometimes long-distance, relationship; how to make the best blueberry pie; and more, so much more."--Brenda Jo Brueggemann
