"You don't choose the writer's life, the writer's life chooses you."
When Grimes first meets Frank Conroy (then director of the legendary Iowa ... read full description
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Sep 22, 2010
Reese
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I once heard an interviewer ask Warren Buffett about "the key to the success of" -- not Berkshire Hathaway -- but his marriage. His response:
"low expectations" (or some equivalent expression). Although the result of low expectations is often poor performance and/or wasted potential,
I've had more gains than losses come from expecting little. I probably expected -- because I hoped for -- more from Tom Grimes's MENTOR than I should have. The book and I came together, More...
"low expectations" (or some equivalent expression). Although the result of low expectations is often poor performance and/or wasted potential,
I've had more gains than losses come from expecting little. I probably expected -- because I hoped for -- more from Tom Grimes's MENTOR than I should have. The book and I came together, More...
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Oct 24, 2010
Djrmel
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This a memoir about that awful, wonderful, scary, magical journey that every author wants to take, the one that puts them in a place that when someone says "What do you do?" they can answer, "I'm a writer" without any fear of a followup question. Tom Grimes put in the hours, he did the revisions, he wrote and wrote and wrote. But still, it was a combination of good timing and talent that got him published. That's not great to hear if you're trying to make it as a published
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Aug 04, 2010
Lee
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It's clear I can't write about this book without improvising my own condensed Frank memoir, which is probably a testament to this book's goodness: the meaning/music of it, the co-created thematic stuff, is the thread of a reader's recollections (re: Frank, The Workshop, Iowa City, Connie, Charles D'Ambrosio, et al) nicely tangled up with everything Grimes relates.
Recommended for anyone who had any experience with Frank Conroy and wondered what it might have been like to have known h More...
Recommended for anyone who had any experience with Frank Conroy and wondered what it might have been like to have known h More...
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Feb 08, 2012
Rebekah
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Excellent novel! An honest look into one man's journey to becoming/accepting his fate as a writer, mixed with his fascinating relationship with his mentor and surrogate father figure. Well worth the time spent to read, and a worthy choice for anyone interested in becoming a writer - a truly monumental task at times.
To quote - "In the end, my memoir about Frank is a memoir about me. By writing about Frank, I could no longer turn away from myself, which is what I've done all of my More...
To quote - "In the end, my memoir about Frank is a memoir about me. By writing about Frank, I could no longer turn away from myself, which is what I've done all of my More...
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Aug 25, 2011
Karolyn
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I was very moved—and only slightly disheartened—by Tom Grimes' account of his writing life, and how it intersected/was shaped by Frank Conroy. It's not just me... seems all writers flail, cry and scream about their writing!
Tom Grimes is an excellent writer. The fact that his fiction has never reached the heights he'd hoped for as a young man is, perhaps, only a matter of time. If any novelist writes more than one or two phenomenal books in his or her lifetime, it's a path to eternal f More...
Tom Grimes is an excellent writer. The fact that his fiction has never reached the heights he'd hoped for as a young man is, perhaps, only a matter of time. If any novelist writes more than one or two phenomenal books in his or her lifetime, it's a path to eternal f More...
Jul 14, 2011
Shane R.
rated it:
Tom Grimes never made a huge career out of writing. He has published a few mediocre novels with a handful of good reviews by renowned publications. After years of wishing to drink with the “big wigs” of the literary world, Grimes enrolled in the MFA program at University of Iowa. Soon after, he was hanging at the local bar with famed literary mogul Frank Conroy, the program director that personally accepted Grimes into the workshop.
Many writers have been writing memoirs on their writing en More...
Many writers have been writing memoirs on their writing en More...
Feb 22, 2011
switterbug (Betsey)
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"I hadn't expected to write this book, but, in a way, our memoirs form bookends. His about childhood, adolescence, and a lost father, mine about writing, teaching, and a father found. Our story has come full circle. The story's meaning mystifies me, yet if Frank were alive he'd agree that neither of us would choose to live in a world that was unmarked by the passage of time, and anything other than inscrutable."
Writer, teacher, and philanthropist, Tom Grimes, wrote this memoi More...
Writer, teacher, and philanthropist, Tom Grimes, wrote this memoi More...
Sep 04, 2010
Andy
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I've been very curious about the Iowa Writers' Workshop well before reading this book. I'm not certain where I heard of it before, but John Irving discussion of his doppelganger's experiences there in his latest book renewed by curiosity. Tom Grimes, who spent significant time there and had a strong relationship with the program's long-time director, certainly demystifies the image I had of the place in this memoir. To him, the Workshop was largely inhabited by writers who had high anxiety about
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May 10, 2010
TinHouseBooks
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"One of the truest accounts of a writer's life—of two writers' lives—I've yet seen. A poignant and beautiful book."
—T.C. Boyle
"It's astonishing how much insight, passion, pain, joy, self-doubt, and sheer love Tom Grimes has managed to pack into this tightly made memoir of his relationship with the writer Frank Conroy. Not only does Mentor offer an honest and compelling account of the struggles of a writer at the onset of his career, but this immaculately composed More...
—T.C. Boyle
"It's astonishing how much insight, passion, pain, joy, self-doubt, and sheer love Tom Grimes has managed to pack into this tightly made memoir of his relationship with the writer Frank Conroy. Not only does Mentor offer an honest and compelling account of the struggles of a writer at the onset of his career, but this immaculately composed More...
Oct 11, 2010
Bookmarks Magazine
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The principles of the venerable Iowa Writers' Workshop have come to influence much of contemporary fiction, so it is perhaps no surprise that some reviewers used them to criticize this memoir of that institution and its longtime leader. In particular, several reviewers complained that Grimes abandoned the principle of "show, don't tell" when describing his evolving relationship to Conroy. But less picky critics seemed to truly relish Mentor as a book for literary insiders. As to whethe
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Nov 09, 2010
Johnvano
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An author and educator reflects back 20 years on his start, penning a memoir of the man who left the greatest imprint on him. The book introduces the reader to the late Frank Conroy and is revealing in its tale of a writer's struggles, inner turmoil, and few triumphs. Contained some great inspiration and reflection.
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Two writing highpoints:
Grimes is given backstage access to the NY Mets for two weeks as he writes his novel. He witnesses a comeback win More...
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Two writing highpoints:
Grimes is given backstage access to the NY Mets for two weeks as he writes his novel. He witnesses a comeback win More...
Aug 21, 2010
Rochelle
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I received this book from Goodreads.
Although this is a wonderful memoir about the author's relationship with Frank Conroy and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, it is much more than that.
Mr. Grimes is certainly writing at his best when he describes, in great detail, his sister's suicide attempts and her subsequent loss of self. He succeeds as well in plumbing his own descent into mania with some of the best written pages in this book.
Altogether this is an enlightening book on the concept More...
Although this is a wonderful memoir about the author's relationship with Frank Conroy and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, it is much more than that.
Mr. Grimes is certainly writing at his best when he describes, in great detail, his sister's suicide attempts and her subsequent loss of self. He succeeds as well in plumbing his own descent into mania with some of the best written pages in this book.
Altogether this is an enlightening book on the concept More...
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Feb 07, 2011
David
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Mostly about himself, but also includes a lot about his relationship with Frank Conroy, novelist and direction of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, who discovers the author via his Iowa application and very generously assists the author's career as a creative writer.
I'm not a fiction writer but as a teacher and (former) student I resonated to his description of the moods surrounding their relationship -- Grimes' anxiety about what Conroy would think of his work; Conroy's seemingly uncompetit More...
I'm not a fiction writer but as a teacher and (former) student I resonated to his description of the moods surrounding their relationship -- Grimes' anxiety about what Conroy would think of his work; Conroy's seemingly uncompetit More...
Jan 29, 2011
lee lee
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It's difficult for me to write this review. In fact, if I'd known how difficult it was going to be to read the book, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. But reading something worthy--just like writing--is worth more because it's hard.
The relationship between Grimes and Conroy is something all young writers covet, just as Conroy's stunning first book is something we all want to write. And Grimes' honest portrayal of how hard the writing life is, despite how brilliant and support More...
The relationship between Grimes and Conroy is something all young writers covet, just as Conroy's stunning first book is something we all want to write. And Grimes' honest portrayal of how hard the writing life is, despite how brilliant and support More...
Apr 28, 2011
Pamela
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Tom Grimes straightforwardly and nakedly describes his early years as a writer longing merely to get into one of the few MFA programs that existed in the Stone Age of the late 80s, his improbable anointment by Frank Conroy at Iowa, who plucked him out of 800 applicants and gave him a major scholarship to attend (this after Grimes had been rejected even by his safety school), his being groomed by Conroy to expect major success, the failure of that success to arrive, his maturing from seeing Conro
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Oct 20, 2010
Casey
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In the spirit of full disclosure, I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway, and if I hadn't I probably wouldn't have read it. That said, I'm glad I did. As much about the author, Tom Grimes, as it is about Frank Conroy, Grimes's mentor, Mentor is an interesting look at the development of a writer and the writer's life.
Given the subject matter, though, it's clear this book was not written or marketed toward the average reading public. I would venture to guess that a large majority More...
Given the subject matter, though, it's clear this book was not written or marketed toward the average reading public. I would venture to guess that a large majority More...
Sep 20, 2011
Dani O.
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I think Tom Grimes did an amazing job at telling his own story while also highlighting the life of his mentor, Frank Conroy. It wasn't necessarily about Frank, but it was about their relationship and in my opinion that's a beautiful way to write about someone else's life because there's no other way to do it - each person affects the people in their life diffferently and I think Frank would have been very proud of this book and would have loved it. I also loved Tom's ability to capture the strug
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Sep 14, 2010
Esther
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Oh Oh, Oh! I liked this book so much! No, make it loved the book. I got a Borders' gift card and hotfooted down the street. This book called out to me, and the writing is superb. Tom Grimes takes the reader down the path of working in construction, to waiter, to this, to that; and his writing career unfolds. He meets Frank Conroy, and this book is valuable for writing, but also the writing process and the struggle and the joy, and I felt as if I were folded within the words and became one
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Jun 25, 2011
Leslie
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This is a great book for anyone who writes. Grimes is taken under the wing of Frank Conroy, the director of the Iowa Writers Workshop. The book is about their relationship as well as Grimes publishing two novels. The process of getting an agent and the agent selling the books to publishers was very interesting to me since I hope to do those very things.
Grimes now directs an MFA program in Texas. He explores how Frank became a surrogate father to him and what their relationship was li More...
Grimes now directs an MFA program in Texas. He explores how Frank became a surrogate father to him and what their relationship was li More...
Feb 05, 2011
Marco
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Not only is this a must read for anyone considering getting an MFA in Creative Writing, it’s also for anyone who is a writer. I described this book as “harrowing” to a friend. Curiosity piqued, he asked what it was about.
“Well,” I said, “it’s about a writer, Tom Grimes, who goes to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. The mentor of the title is Frank Conroy—not to be confused with Pat. Tom Grimes describes working on his first book, and when it’s published, he gets only a little bit of criti More...
“Well,” I said, “it’s about a writer, Tom Grimes, who goes to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. The mentor of the title is Frank Conroy—not to be confused with Pat. Tom Grimes describes working on his first book, and when it’s published, he gets only a little bit of criti More...
Aug 30, 2010
Tom
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A kind of a love-letter. Grimes tells of the literary father-son relationship that grows between Frank Conroy and himself when he is accepted to the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and how that relationship affects his writing and his life. As an aspiring writer, I found this book inspiring. It depicts the fickle world of books and book publishing. Grimes' work doesn't get great reviews or best-seller status, but it does fulfill him. His experiences at the Iowa Writers Workshop do lead him into a writin
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Mar 03, 2011
Barb
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I am not sure how I feel about this book. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be more about the Iowa Writers' Workshop but it was more about the relationship between the author and Frank Conroy. At times it got a little too "pompous" for my tastes but it was fun to read about places in Iowa City and some of the favorite haunts around here. Frank Conroy was probably be shocked to know that the Foxhead looks exactly the way it did way back when.
Oct 10, 2010
Ajaxwriter
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Think you want to write? You'd be smart to pick up this recent book by Tom Grimes, director of the MFA writing program at Texas State University. He tells the truth about writing, graduate writing programs and, most important of all, about how hard it is to get published today. If you want to write after he rips away all the starry-eyed dreams, then you most likely will become a published author. I highly recommend this book.
Apr 25, 2011
Very
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This is supposed to be all about the literary bromance between Tom Grimes and Frank Conroy, but I didn't really feel the love. The whole book felt a little cold to me. But then again, I felt similarly about The Shawshank Redemption, which, according to my husband, is One of the Best Films Ever Made, so maybe I'm not the best judge when it comes to these things.
Jan 01, 2011
Susan
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This is a good read because the author is so whiny and egocentric that you turn the pages waiting to see what he's complaining about next. As an author I fully appreciate how aggravating the whole publishing process can be. But I think the author's job is to transform the world into something larger. Or to find meaning it. However, I couldn't put it down.
May 05, 2010
eb
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One of the most honest books I've ever read. Mentor isn't actually about Frank Conroy; rather, it's about Grimes's writing life, which is fascinating. I hope Grimes writes a dozen more works of nonfiction. I want to read about everything that's happened to him--his childhood, his marriage, his teenage years, the whole nine.
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Nov 19, 2010
Gary
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A great read. The relationship between Tom and Frank makes me think of my own relationship with my mentor...if only I'd been able to live as closely to mine for as long as Tom did.... Anyway, a wonderful look into the inner-workings of a first-rate novelist. No tears for me here, but at times the emotional honesty is brutal and tantalizing. A beautiful book. Read it.
Jan 09, 2011
Deb
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Like Grimes comments about editor reaction to his novels (great 1st half, losing steam at end) I think the first half of this memoir was more interesting. Perhaps it would have had more impact if it didn't follow all his relationship with Conroy until his mentor's death.
Oct 23, 2011
Alison
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One of the best books I've read about the experience of writing--the anxiety, the loneliness, the constant questioning. Even though Grimes attended the Iowa Workshop and became the protege of Frank Conroy, he was a "failed novelist." His memoir is a work of art.
Dec 19, 2010
Gwynne
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Despite the NY Times book review that spilled enough snark to make me wonder about this memoir's potential flaws, there is much to commend in *Mentor*. I felt myself turning the pages effortlessly and wanting to come back to it when I had to set it aside.
Strong, clear prose. Good story telling, too.
The NYT review cautioned young writers about reading this book because of its emphasis on the failure most writers face, but I found that aspect of the memoir right on target. The need to More...
Strong, clear prose. Good story telling, too.
The NYT review cautioned young writers about reading this book because of its emphasis on the failure most writers face, but I found that aspect of the memoir right on target. The need to More...
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