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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required Reading For Aspiring Writers, March 17, 2002
This review is from: Writers on Writing (Paperback)
It puzzles me beyond belief that "Writers on Writing" is out of print. This book is a grand, well-chosen collection of quotes on such apects of writing--from getting published, to starting out, to writer's block. Jon Winokur is a quote-collecting master. When I first became serious about writing, I found this book at my local library, and found it hard to put down, and extremely helpful and insightful. I was being taught by the likes of such literary greats as Truman Capote, Lewis Carroll, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is an educational journey all the way through, using down to earth quotes from those who know, rather than a drawn out step-by-step instructional book. It cured my writer's block, and improved my amateur work. Required reading for aspiring writers.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book stopped me from stopping writing, May 25, 2005
I could cry that this book is out of print. I pored over its pages when I was first writing fiction. I highlighted stuff. It kept me going. I still refer to it. We can hear the voices of writers in it, dead and alive.
Like this:
"A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual." --Vladimir Nabokov
"We have art in order not to die of the truth."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"Poets have to dream, and dreaming in America is no cinch."--Saul Bellow
"There is no way of being a creative writer in America without being a loser."--Nelson Algren
"Writers don't have lifestyles. They sit in little rooms and write."--Norman Mailer
"I never wanted to grow up to be a writer; I just wanted to grow up to be an adult."--Toni Morrrison
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The absolutely best book for anyone who aspires to be a writer., August 18, 2009
Out of the hundreds of books in my personal library, this is one of my favorite quote texts. It is a huge tome of 372 pages of wit and profound quotations by writers about writing. It covers an enormous amount of material. It has valuable advice to young writers, as well as quotes from all aspects of the writer's life. This is a book about the trials and tribulations of being a writer. Every serious writer knows the emotional roller coaster ride involved in their vocation. The well-known writers in this volume sometimes contradict each other, but it does not matter. This is a book for anyone who is a writer or who aspires to become a writer.
Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Haiku Moments: How to read, write and enjoy Haiku).
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