- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (Jan 21 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0394536487
- ISBN-13: 978-0394536484
- Product Dimensions: 24 x 16.8 x 2.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 621 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #889,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Although there's some original material, most of Mailer's reflections on the writer's craft have been assembled from decades of interviews, essays, lectures and other sources. As such, despite an effective integration in the earliest sections, most of the book has a scattershot feel. Mailer doesn't exactly offer advice, apart from the occasional warning: "writing as a daily physical activity is not agreeable." Instead, in the first half, he teaches by example, providing a self-portrait emphasizing the process of writing some of his earliest novels, including The Naked and the Dead and The Deer Park. Unfortunately, the closer he gets to the present, the less he has to say; later efforts like Tough Guys Don't Dance get little more than a page. Some people will find Mailer's self-assessment grandiose-he compares himself to Picasso repeatedly-but his confidence should hardly surprise anybody at this point. Not even his forceful personality can hold the second half together, though: Tantalizing bits such as a description of his relationship with Kurt Vonnegut as "friendly... but wary," or his insightful reflections on the ways writers might absorb the emotional impact of September 11 without writing about it directly, get buried under meandering ruminations. What he has to say about contemporary literature, like his observation that Jonathan Franzen "writes superbly well sentence for sentence, but yet one is not happy with the achievement," leaves the reader wanting more about books and less, much less, about Last Tango in Paris.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Mailer celebrates his 80th birthday by talking about the craft of writing.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
I am tempted to call this section Economics, for it concerns the loss and gain (economically, psychically, physically) of living as a writer. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
I am tempted to call this section Economics, for it concerns the loss and gain (economically, psychically, physically) of living as a writer. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A course on being a writer,
By Kirk McElhearn "Freelance writer and translator" (A town in the French Alps) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing (Paperback)
This is not so much a book on writing as it is in being a writer. Through a series of essays, interviews and other texts, Mailer reflects on his experiences. Mailer's life is like no other writer's, so it's hard to imagine that this will help budding authors, but there is something reassuring about his questioning the quality of some of his works, his sudden rise to fame after the Naked and the Dead became a bestseller.You won't get much concrete advice on writing, but it's a wonderful ride, reading these interesting words by one of America's greatest wordsmiths.
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Egotistical Master,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing (Hardcover)
Mailer tells us a lot we don't want to know about. It's the gloomy long tale of an egocentric writer's acceptance of the ups and downs of his metier. He gives his biased opinions on things he knows and things he doesn't know about. All the negative aspects of his persona are laid out. Still, it must have taken some bravery to lay out some of them. Or else he needed the money. Truth sells, even if it is a very mediocre unfocused book, and quite un-useful. It should have been titled "Me and My Books, Some thoughts on me and my writing".
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Spooky Art of Intellectual Onanism,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing (Hardcover)
Gimme a break. Mailer should stop tooting his own horn and write some fiction that isn't so imbued with egotistical dross. Nobody cares about Mailer's craft, and why should we when he's written longwinded stinkers like Naked and the Dead or Harlot's Ghost. The man needs to check himself before he wrecks himself. That ego does nothing for his writing, no matter how many awards he's won. He should stick to what he knows like being a verbose senile buffoon and stabbing his wife.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
