What About the Baby?
Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With style and wit, novelist McDermott (The Ninth Hour) offers a master class on writing fiction, "a continual source of surprise and delight." Generously peppered with examples by such authors as Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and Virginia Woolf, McDermott dissects what makes a story worth reading (and rereading). In "Story," she cites Woolf's novel Jacob's Room and covers the magic of a strong opening paragraph and first sentence, the "Now what?" moment in the narrative's middle, and the importance of an ending that "says something about us." The title essay reminds writers that they must clear their "workroom of preformed ideas, especially ideas born of anger or fear." In "All Drama Is Family Drama," she opines about the need for exposition, which "makes drama." McDermott is clear-eyed about her profession, recounting teachers who told her that if she can do anything else, she should, but she has "never shake the addictive delight of seeing my words evoke a world." Her love of fiction and its craft is apparent, and her advice is at once encouraging and direct: "I expect a lot of fiction—of mine and yours and everybody else's." Within these pages, there is room at the table for all. Agency: Gernert Company.
