Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Recent Books on Writing

The purpose of this blog is to share interesting ideas I have found in recent American professional publications dealing with the teaching of English at all levels, elementary, secondary and college.

Topic: Review of Recent Books on Writing

Title: Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer. Edited by Bret Anthony Johnston. Random. 400 pages. Paper, $15. Reviewed by Chuck Leddy. The Writer (June 2008), 42. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers. Its goal is to keep the writer’s spirits up.

Comment: Exercises in writing that will get you started writing. Well reviewed. I just ordered a copy from Amazon. RayS.

Title: Send: The Essential Guide to E-mail for Office and Home. David Shipley and Will Schwalbe. Alfred A. Knopf. 256 pp. Hardcover, $19.90. Reviewed by Erika Dreyfus. The Writer (June 2008), 44.

Comment: You probably think that you can’t learn anything about sending e-mails from a book. Based on this review, you can. The authors emphasize mistakes in taste to avoid and, frankly, how to stay out of jail. RayS.

Title: Old Friends from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir. Natalie Goldberg. Free Press. 336 pp. Hardcover, $25. Reviewed by Steve Weinberg. The Writer (June 2008), 45.

Comment: Memoirs are a popular type of book these days. Consists of exercises to get you started. “Many of Goldberg’s exercises are not about writing per se, but about thinking.” “Excellent advice about structuring a memoir.” Has sections on great memoirists, great memoirs to read and guidelines and suggestions. In spite of the praise, the review is lukewarm. RayS.

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