Book description
In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller,
acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and
take a guided tour of the tools and tricks of the masters to discover
why their work has endured. Written with passion, humour and wisdom,
Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature
with a fresh eye and an eager heart - to take pleasure in the long and
magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs
of Isaac Babel; to look to John le Carré for a lesson in how to
advance plot through dialogue and to Flannery O'Connor for the cunning
use of the telling detail; to be inspired by Emily Brontë's structural
nuance and Charles Dickens's deceptively simple narrative techniques.
Most importantly, Prose cautions readers to slow down and pay
attention to words, the raw material out of which all literature is
crafted, and reminds us that good writing comes out of good reading.
Francine Prose is the author of fourteen works of fiction,
including Blue Angel, a finalist for the National Book Award. A
distinguished critic and essayist, she has taught literature and
writing for more than twenty years at major universities. She lives in
New York City.
