false 420358 1 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 <I>The Writer's Life</I>, 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. <I>--Jane Steinberg</I> 409492 1997 The Writer's Life : Intimate Thoughts on Work, Love, Inspiration, and Fame from the Diaries of the World's Great Writers total:4|4:3|3:1| 4 15 9 0 4 0 false false Sat Jun 27 19:44:37 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 19:44:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 20 14:04:28 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 14:04:28 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Dec 29 11:52:04 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 11:52:04 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Nov 11 21:30:09 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 21:30:09 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Aug 21 17:03:50 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 17:03:50 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Mar 30 12:37:13 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 12:37:15 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Mar 25 11:05:13 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 11:05:13 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Sep 09 13:45:22 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 13:45:22 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Tue Jul 17 07:42:26 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 17 07:42:26 -0700 2007