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    What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction
    What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction
    What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction
    Ebook267 pages5 hours

    What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction

    By Alice McDermott

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    About this ebook

    A collection of essays, lectures, and observations on the art of writing fiction from Alice McDermott, winner of the National Book Award and unmatched "virtuoso of language and image" (Rebecca Steinitz, The Boston Globe).

    Laying bare the intricate process of storytelling, McDermott shares her invaluable advice on the subtleties of writing, blending the practical with the profound in What About the Baby?

    McDermott also serves throughout as the artful conductor of a literary chorus, quoting generously from the work of other great writers (including Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Nabokov, Morrison, and Woolf ), beautifully joining her voice with theirs. These stories of lessons learned and books read, and of the terrors and the joys of what she calls “this mad pursuit,” form a rich and valuable sourcebook for readers and writers alike: a deeply charming meditation on the unique gift that is literature.

    Enshrouded in a layer of wisdom, humor, and an undying passion for literature, What About the Baby? is an engaging exploration of the art of literary creation. This book’s insightful narrative is a not-to-be-missed journey for anyone enticed by the magic of the written word.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateAug 17, 2021
    ISBN9780374722449
    Author

    Alice McDermott

    Alice McDermott is the author of nine novels, all published by FSG, including Charming Billy, winner of the National Book Award, and That Night, At Weddings and Wakes, and After This, which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She is also the author of the essay collection What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction. Her stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, and other publications. She lives outside Washington, DC.

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    • 5/5
      This book needs to be on every author’s bookshelf regardless of whether she is a published or an aspiring author.“What about the Baby?” is full of wondrous advice that doesn’t read like a full-of-himself lecturer pontificating on a topic he has little real knowledge about. For instance, McDermott says, “I expect fiction to be about the pain and sweetness of life.” This gem is true for every writer regardless of the genre being created. And there are dozens of other jewels like this scattered throughout the book.If you’ve ever thought about writing fiction or have been writing it for years, this book is for you.My thanks to Macmillan and Edelweiss for an eARC.
    • 4/5
      We all have authors we trust, for our favored genres. I love the way this author writes, the meticulous way she constructs her stories. This book, describes the craft of writing fiction. What she thinks is important, the trade of her craft, so to speak. First sentence, what makes this opening a memorable and we'll written one. She compares and contrasts paragraphs from many different writers. Those that work, those she found lacking. Reading and rereading everything written down. Continually checking that all your plot points are on target. A book for those who want to write fiction but also a book that shows a reader how to read. Understanding how a book is assembled, put together so a reader can connect and remember.The book opens with a wonderful story she read in a Irish magazine. A story about a man and dog, rather simple in the telling but one she repeats to other people, many times. I loved this story and I too have repeated it to others. A story that works on many levels. This was a very useful and interesting book. Well done, but then again, I didn't expect anything less.ARC from Edelweiss

    Book preview

    What About the Baby? - Alice McDermott

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