Every Day I Write the Book: Notes on Style

by Amitava Kumar

Amitava Kumar's Every Day I Write the Book is for academic writers what Annie Dillard's The Writing Life  and Stephen King's On Writing are for creative writers. Alongside Kumar's interviews with an array of scholars whose distinct writing offers inspiring examples for students and academics alike, the book's pages are full of practical advice about everything from how to write criticism to making use of a kitchen timer. Communication, engagement, these are the aims and sources of good writing. Storytelling, attention to organization, solid work these are its tools. Kumar's own voice is present in his essays about the writing process and in his perceptive and witty observations on the academic world. A writing manual as well as a manifesto, Every Day I Write the Book will interest and guide aspiring writers everywhere.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Academia, Essays, Academic

256 pages, Hardcover

Published March 27, 2020

About the author

Amitava Kumar is a novelist, poet, journalist, and Professor of English at Vassar College. He was born in Bihar, India; he grew up in the town of Patna, famous for its corruption, crushing poverty, and delicious mangoes.

He is the author of Nobody Does the Right Thing; A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb; Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate, a New York Times “Editors’ Choice” selection; Bombay—London—New York, a New Statesman (UK) “Book of the Year” selection; and Passport Photos. He is the editor of several books, including Away: The Indian Writer as an Expatriate, The Humour and the Pity: Essays on V. S. Naipaul, and World Bank Literature. He is also an editor of the online journal Politics and Culture and the screenwriter and narrator of the prize-winning documentary film Pure Chutney.

Kumar’s writing has appeared in The Nation, Harper’s, Vanity Fair, The American Prospect, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Hindu, and other publications in North America and India.

Reviews

[Sandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brilliant! Everyone who plans to pursue a career in academia should read this.

[daniel dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few books have been as invigorating or as validating to me as "Every Day I Write the Book." The book itself is a collection of short (sometimes only a few sentences) pieces that reflect on the problems of form and style, especially the overly dry and lifeless ones that dominate in academia. Kumar is fed up, seems to have been for quite some time, and so has done something about it. Part manifesto, part journal, part scribbled notes on the backside of napkins, this book argues, perhaps promises, that there are other ways to "write the book" (or dissertation) and delivers a variety of provocations that could lead the reader to discover their own. Highly recommend for any academic, but especially those who find themselves sitting with the problem of writing and what to do with it.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kumar captures the quirks as well as the slings and arrows of writing in academia through a mish-mosh of anecdotes, short essays, and what feels at times to be scrapbooking (in a good way). The book is divided into nine parts: I) Self-Help; II) Writing A Book: A Brief History; III) Credos; IV) Form; V) Academic Interest; VI) Style; VII) Exercises; VIII) The Groves of Academe and IX) Materials.

Those interested in a writing "guide" can just skip to Appendix A: "Ten Rules of Writing", but as the strikeout text on the book's cover implies, this is not a guide (in the traditional sense) nor a report on style. Instead, it is a memoir (in parts) of a writing life, interspersed with nuggets of widsom, dry humor. Fans of Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird may recognize Kumar's small pencil and folded index card that he carries in his pocket, and indeed many of his recommendations align with Lamott's, albeit with a slightly less sardonic tone.

While one would expect Kumar to be "well-read," he shares his knowledge pragmatically, without pomp, and always with clarity of meaning. We don't just get a vast bibliography shared through an eclectic set of "notes", but actual motivation to read those essays and books. There's an earthiness and honesty in Kumar's voice, that manages to critique academia while still acknowledging his own role within. A few bits felt more self-indulgent than instructive, although sometimes the shortest offerings packed a punch, such as the final note of part III: "Credos remain meaningless abstractions unless put to use." (68). He reminds us that one can read endlessly about writing, but to be a writer, one must... write. And let's face it -- reading about writing provides comfort, as if filling our brains with what we ought to do is a substitute for actually doing it (and is a better alternative to binge-watching television).

Struggling academic writers would be well-advised to keep this book close at hand, as even picking one bit of it at random might help jolt you out of a slump. It can also be read in small doses, rather than cover to cover, and I might even suggest out of order, depending on your need at one moment (although there's a certain joy to the sections Kumar offers, and fun little surprises such as the wit about credos mentioned above).

[Brigitte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this over the last day and a half and most of it set my teeth on edge. As someone who writes fiction and reads and uses countless books to improve my craft, I’m always on the lookout for a book that does the same for scholarly writing, since I also write scholarship. While this book seems to be trying to write a book for academic writers that compares to Stephen King’s On Writing, the difference is that the book overs zero practical advice to improve academic prose. For example: Yes, academic prose should be revised, he says. I already know that. What are specific strategies and exercises to actually improve that prose? Nothing. He falls into the same trap he claims to be fighting against: Writing about academic writing but offering little in the way of a discussion about craft. Most of these short essays and fragments are self-indulgent musings about what he believes to be good writing and bad writing. Why is it so hard for so many scholars to talk practical application when it comes to writing? I just don’t understand.

[Shashank Kamdar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is not on writing better but on becoming a better writer.  I liked the sections on advice from great writers with their writing ethics and rituals. Appendices are really useful too. But the rest of the book was not very pleasing to read. After reading, it did not appear as general a book as it seems from the title. It looks designed for a niche area of academic novel writers. 

In many places, the theme/message starts to appear fuzzy and abstract due to the mention of so many other works that the author himself loses clarity and gives an impression as if he is talking to himself/ someone with all the knowledge he shares.  

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love to read books about writing and language. And I don't normally read many books published by the publisher I work for, but I had heard such good things about this one that I decided to dig in. And I didn't put it down until I was finished! An excellent book: not overbearing, full of reference to other great books about writing, advice from other great writers, and encouragement to academics in particular but also to all who write. This is going on my shelf of favorite books about writing that I return to over and over.

[ML Character · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this is mildly interesting but very... impressionistic? Like, sometimes a glimmer of something also interesting to me, but more enamored of the vague joys and ill-defined abstract importance of academics and academic writing/theory, less engaged with the machinery of institution and contemporary neoliberalism that is grinding down any possibility that such vague joys and abstract importances ever get accomplished. But... I do like to escape to that utopia where that stuff- stuff I thought I was working toward- is still around and is the point.

[DM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not meant to be read front to back - rather this is a collection of vignettes to be picked up and flipped through. Some I really enjoyed and some didn't say very much to me. My biggest take-away is that academics should feel free to play with form as much as with argument/ideas. I also enjoyed reading the snippets of interviews from other academics about their writing process.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of book that so self-consciously responds to the weirdly saturated yet underdeveloped genre of the academic “self-help” guide. Less a guide to writing than a set of “notes on style” as the title suggests, the book does what I think academic writers need most: the freedom to think boldly, irreverently about writing as a practice that is itself in perpetual revision.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read anything where somebody mentioned Stanley Fish in over a decade. I also miss teaching when I read books like this, but then I remember living off my credit card as a adjunct. I’ve forgotten most of what seems important to Kumar about criticism, but I loved everything about writing, defending form, and all the mentions of Sontag. I plan to return to some of my favorite works by her, so I’m thankful. Will follow the seminar rules. Promise.

[Elle Furtado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up and my university’s library and it was a cute little read, in terms of practical advice I would say I took much. Mostly concepts and general tip to keep in mind. No specific rules out advice aside for a few appendicitis in the back. Not a bad read if you have time. Very short “chapters” easier to digest

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun. Borrow and skim. Don’t expect actionable advice; that’s not what he’s doing. If you write, and read about writing, skimming this may be a pleasant way to spend an hour or two. A few entries will catch your eye or strike the right chord.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

My senior thesis journey is over before it has even begun, but this book gave me so many little gems of advice/inspiration. I wish I knew how to write literary work as creatively as I'd like but maybe I'll get there in the future :-)

[Sohum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wavered between 3 and 4 but ultimately concluded that since my takeaways from this book were fuzzy at best, I would settle on a 3.

[Guillaume Morissette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generic

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was most useful in providing titles of other things I’m interested in reading. It was a rather quick read, with occasional insights into what makes for engaging writing.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Academic writing, blah.

[szymborskalyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly good and entertaining guide on style, but can be prone to lapsing into self-aggrandizing ego-trips that feel too egotist to educate.