Anthony M. Bookfly's review
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (P.S.)
by Francine Prose
I agree. This wasn't a bad read, and I have no huge bone to pick with Prose, but this book gave me the same grudgy feeling I always get against folk who profess some capacity to TEACH others about writing. Y'know? It's sweet to try and help, I guess, but man. Usually I just want those people to shut the fuck up after about ten minutes. With the exception of Anne Lamott. Which is a slightly different issue.
And the list of must-read books was made of all the sources she used for excerpts. It was a bibliography.
I didn't read all of this book but what I did read made me feel the same way you did. In fact, I feel that way reading any book that claims to tell you how to read and/or write like a pro, which is why I don't read such books anymore. Kurt Vonnegut wrote a single essay, probably less than 10 pages, that said everything that these kinds of books take hundreds of pages to say. (Essentially: read a lot, read closely, write a lot, write stuff that will interest other people and edit out the bullshit that no one cares about.) The only other book of this kind I could recommend is Stephen King's "On Writing," and that's only if you like King to begin with; you won't learn much about "the craft" that common sense won't tell you, but at least it's an interesting look into his personal life and tastes.
Anthony M. Bookfly's review
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (P.S.) by Francine Prose
Anthony M. Bookfly's review
rating:
recommended for: people unfamiliar with close reading, no one
Very clever marketing. Has any other book about the process of reading been so successful? I mean I don't think Nicholas Basbanes' stuff comes close.
Maybe I was so disappointed with this book because there isn't much to back the claim of teaching you to read like a writer. It teaches you how to do close reading. Once again, credit the marketing team for making the book's title an empty claim. Reading Like a Close Reader would not have sold as well. But read the title closely, maybe the claim isn't all that baseless. The book isn't called Reading like Writers, suggesting many writers, or all writers. This book teaches you how to read the way one writer reads, the very author of the book.
I know close reading. It's the only way I read and it doesn't make me a writer, it makes me a slow reader. I felt ripped off when I figured out this technique was the only skill Prose had to impart. If you don't know how to do close reading this book is a good way to start. If you'v...more
Maybe I was so disappointed with this book because there isn't much to back the claim of teaching you to read like a writer. It teaches you how to do close reading. Once again, credit the marketing team for making the book's title an empty claim. Reading Like a Close Reader would not have sold as well. But read the title closely, maybe the claim isn't all that baseless. The book isn't called Reading like Writers, suggesting many writers, or all writers. This book teaches you how to read the way one writer reads, the very author of the book.
I know close reading. It's the only way I read and it doesn't make me a writer, it makes me a slow reader. I felt ripped off when I figured out this technique was the only skill Prose had to impart. If you don't know how to do close reading this book is a good way to start. If you'v...more
I agree. This wasn't a bad read, and I have no huge bone to pick with Prose, but this book gave me the same grudgy feeling I always get against folk who profess some capacity to TEACH others about writing. Y'know? It's sweet to try and help, I guess, but man. Usually I just want those people to shut the fuck up after about ten minutes. With the exception of Anne Lamott. Which is a slightly different issue.
And the list of must-read books was made of all the sources she used for excerpts. It was a bibliography.
I didn't read all of this book but what I did read made me feel the same way you did. In fact, I feel that way reading any book that claims to tell you how to read and/or write like a pro, which is why I don't read such books anymore. Kurt Vonnegut wrote a single essay, probably less than 10 pages, that said everything that these kinds of books take hundreds of pages to say. (Essentially: read a lot, read closely, write a lot, write stuff that will interest other people and edit out the bullshit that no one cares about.) The only other book of this kind I could recommend is Stephen King's "On Writing," and that's only if you like King to begin with; you won't learn much about "the craft" that common sense won't tell you, but at least it's an interesting look into his personal life and tastes.