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brianbbaker's review against another edition
5.0
I have been reading a lot of writing books in the last few years to help improve my own work. This is one of the best, though at times it can get monotonous to get through. I learned so much more than I thought I would. John Gardner was one of the best writing instructors.
ckcombsdotcom's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this would be dry and pedantic, and there is some of that. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it and could follow along very well, considering I haven't read any of the august classics he uses as examples. Gardener shows enough, along with telling that I could follow and understand the points he was making.
There's also a bit of humor, which I enjoyed.
10/10 will refer to again in the future.
There's also a bit of humor, which I enjoyed.
10/10 will refer to again in the future.
saraelm's review against another edition
5.0
A must for anyone wanting to write prose. So many things clicked when I read this.
pkingnm's review against another edition
5.0
Possibly the most important book I've read so far as I learn how to write.
cnorbury's review against another edition
3.0
A book such as this and the one I read just before it--"Building Great Sentences," by Brooks Landon--make me feel as though I've barely climbed onto the bottom rung of the ladder of skill and craft it takes to become a writer ... and I've published a book and two magazine articles!
Even though this book is dated (written in 1983) and Gardner primarily discusses literary fiction, he hits on some fatal flaws of young (meaning new, not chronologically young) writers. His references to many writers I've not heard of or read makes me think I should read everything by those authors to fully understand the points he makes when using their work as examples to be learned from.
It probably helps a reader to have an English degree or MFA to fully understand the subtleties of his thoughts, but even I found many useful pieces of advice to ponder, and I don't have an English degree or MFA.
Even though this book is dated (written in 1983) and Gardner primarily discusses literary fiction, he hits on some fatal flaws of young (meaning new, not chronologically young) writers. His references to many writers I've not heard of or read makes me think I should read everything by those authors to fully understand the points he makes when using their work as examples to be learned from.
It probably helps a reader to have an English degree or MFA to fully understand the subtleties of his thoughts, but even I found many useful pieces of advice to ponder, and I don't have an English degree or MFA.