A review by kjboldon
The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner

4.0

A better subtitle would be "for the beginning writer" as one can do that at any age, and not be young. There are many teachings and gems in here that make this a classic deserving a permanent spot in a writers library, among them Gardner's constant reminder that the writer of fiction should be creating a vivid continuous dream for readers, and strive not to jolt them out of the narrative. The text is marred, however, by a not inconsiderable amount of sexist, racist, classist comments, as well as a lot of text devoted to white male fiction of the mid 1900s. While perhaps of its time, Gardner often crossed over into blatant assholery. I borrowed this from the library and will be buying my own copy--used.