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Bestselling and bargain books: Quotations Classic
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Books -> Quotations Classic
The Writer's Life : Intimate Thoughts on Work, Love, Inspiration, and Fame from the Diaries of the World's Great Writers
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by:
Edgarian, Carol
Jenks, Tom
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Publisher:
Vintage
Published: October 28, 1997
ISBN: 0679769579
Format:Paperback
Pages:300
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Book Description
Amazon.com
Books of quotations tend toward the pithy and the trite. A quotation is the literary equivalent of a sound bite, after all--clever or funny or wise, and nearly always short, if not sweet. In The Writer's Life, a collection of excerpts from
writers' diaries, Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenks have gone after something different altogether. Yes, the book has its share of one-liners, but there are also plenty of longer, ruminating passages, some stretching the length of a full page. More than 200
writers weigh in on subjects concerning both life and work. "Our goal," state the editors in an introductory note, "was not to create a scholarly book or one of interest only to writers or lovers of great writing, but rather to create ... [a] book in
which readers can find aspects of their own experiences revealed through the lens of art." What also sets this book apart from many of its ilk is the rigor with which its editors sought out new material for their entries. In addition to following the
more traditional paths of research--bookstores, rare-book dealers, libraries, the Internet--they asked hundreds of contemporary writers for entries from their diaries. Their efforts pay off. The conversationalists gathered here--including John Cheever,
Rita Dove, Athol Fugard, Witold Gombrowicz, Barbara Pym, Theodore Roethke, J.D. McClatchy, and Leo and Sophia Tolstoy--make for fine company indeed. --Jane Steinberg
Product Description:
PAUL AUSTER ¸ CHARLOTTE BRONTE ¸ WILLIAM S.
BURROUGHS ¸ NOEL COWARD ¸ GUSTAVE FLAUBERT ¸ ANNE FRANK ¸ FRANZ KAFKA
Ambition. Fame. Sex. Envy. Gossip. Money. Death. They re all here, in this dazzling book of quotations--many of them previously unpublished--from
the diaries, journals, and notebooks of the world s greatest writers. Arranged chronologically, from the fervent declarations of youth to the serene reflections of old age, The Writer's Life spans twenty-three countries and four centuries to observe the
entire spectrum of the human condition, with particular attention to the joys and agonies of literary endeavor. Eloquent, candid, brimming with passion, insight and wit, the result is an invaluable resource for any writer--or for anyone seeking expert
instruction in the art of being human.
On inspiration: "I am going to write because I cannot help it."
--Charlotte Bronte
On fame: "I dream that my face appears on a postage stamp."
--John
Cheever
On sex: "In petting there is no Mason-Dixon line."
--Delmore Schwartz
On keeping a journal: "Writing a journal means that facing your ocean you are afraid to swim across it, so you attempt to
drink it drop by drop."
--George Sand
HERMAN MELVILLE ¸ SYLVIA PLATH ¸ JAMES SALTER ¸ SAPPHIRE ¸ MARY SHELLEY ¸ HENRY DAVID THOREAU ¸ LEO TOLSTOY ¸ ALICE
WALKER ¸ OSCAR WILDE
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