Publishers Weekly
- Publisher's Weekly
Thirty years ago, at the very outset of his career, Busch now the author of 22 books, most recently The Night Inspector received a cruel rejection letter. It read, in its entirety, "Dear Mr. Busch: If only you wrote fiction as well as you write letters of inquiry." This collection--inspired by Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet--begins with Busch's own angry, if amusing, response to that zinger. So passionate is Busch that one suspects his entire subsequent career has been a triumphant rebuttal to that letter. The collection he has assembled here is, as a whole, more measured and less inspired, with a few exceptions. Janet Burroway's contribution, "Re: Envy" is a devastatingly honest account of the place of the green-eyed monster in a writer's life; Andre Dubus achieves a generous tone and offers unbeatable advice: "I believe all good stories will finally be published. Yours will too, if you keep mailing them." The contributions are wildly uneven, and those by the biggest names are often the least useful. Carver, Bradbury, and Malcolm Cowley are represented by personal letters too specific to have a place here. Missives from Ann Beattie, Rosellen Brown and several others ooze bitterness about would-be authors who assume that writing fiction takes nothing more than finding some spare time. Megan Staffel makes a similar point without the sour tone: "writing fiction requires the same kind of struggles that doing anything new requires. You wouldn't expect someone to be able to waterski without falling down on their first try." June Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
KLIATT
If writing is among the loneliest of occupations, the writer of fiction is surely the most solitary laborer of all. Fiction writers devote long lonely hours to creating worlds of their own imagining in the remote hope that some reader somewhere will find those worlds to be plausible and somewhat interesting. The young writer usually has no one but a (hopefully) sympathetic teacher or parent to offer the kind of inspiration and encouragement that even seasoned professionals may secretly yearn for on those unproductive days when a career in medicine, law, or retail clerking suddenly seems quite appealing. Letters to a Fiction Writer is an anthology of letters by writers and teachers of writing who understand the kind of problems that arise when one's primary aspiration is to fill blank sheets of paper with sparkling prose that presents a fresh and personal vision of the world. The distinguished writers represented in this collection - including Ann Beattie, Ray Bradbury, Rosellen Brown, Raymond Carver, Shelby Foote, John Gardner, Joyce Carol Oates, Reynolds Price, and John Updike - demonstrate that their own fame and success have not blinded them to the beginning writer's ongoing need for support and a gently guiding hand. If there is a consensus of belief among these diverse voices it is that writing is hard work, but it is hard work well-worth doing that can be done by those who persevere. Reading the wealth of good advice presented in these pages will benefit writers and would-be writers of all ages; indeed, anyone who appreciates good prose is sure to delight in this fine collection of insightful essays. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students,advanced students, and adults. 1999, Norton, 292p, 20cm, 98-54320, $13.95. Ages 13 to adult. Reviewer: Jeffrey Cooper; Writer/Editor, Long Island, NY, November 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 6)
Library Journal
Busch, the author of 22 books including A Dangerous Profession: A Book About the Writing Life, brings together letters by 33 authors--among them Shelby Foote, Ray Bradbury, and Joyce Carol Oates--who graciously share their thoughts on the art of writing and being a writer. There is always the danger of unevenness in a collection of letters, many of which are personal correspondence, but Busch chooses well. Many aspiring fiction writers will feel that the authors are speaking directly to them. Some, such as Raymond Carver, talk about the dark side of fiction writing, in his case his battle with alcoholism. In this age of E-mail, a letter from a friend seems like a wonderful prize to be savored over and over. This collection gives that same feeling and will be dipped into many times. To inspire and instruct both new and experienced writers, this book is recommended for all libraries.--Lisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Booknews
But also from writers, who offer advice to young and aspiring on both the nuts-and-bolts of writing and getting work published, and on inspiration and the life of a writer. Among the 33 authors Busch (literature, Colgate U.) has collected are Ray Bradbury, Malcolm Cowley, John Gardner, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Updike. He includes letters by Caroline Gordon, Flannery O'Connor, John Hawkes, and Joanna Scott showing how ideas passed along that chain. There is no index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Kirkus Reviews
Prominent writers of fiction dispense copious, often conflicting, and largely entertaining advice to beginners and sundry others who feel called to publish short stories and novels. Most of the famous authors collected here by Busch, himself a prolific novelist (Girls, 1997; Long Way from Home, 1993, etc.) are American, most are contemporary, and all are English-speaking (though some give weight to their counsel by refering to Chekhov, Kafka, and Tolstoy). Only 3 of these 36 pieces have never been published before. Still, the collection makes good and illuminating reading for anyone attracted to fiction, not just to prospective writers. In an exceptionally fine letter of rejection, writer/editor Pam Durban explains and demonstrates the "clarifying particularity" that marks a successful story. In the very next letter, shrewdly positioned by Busch, Shelby Foote harangues Walker Percy to the effect that he should never, ever let an editor tell him how to write. Some interesting common themes emerge. One is resentment: "People want you to think what you do is not magical," warns Ann Beattie. Another is noble suffering for art. An underlying assumption of many of these letters seems to be that the demoralized aspirant is slaving away in penurious, undeserved anonymity. The writer longs for recognition and security. Some of the famous authors accept the topos at face value and offer comfort; tough-minded Janette Turner Hospital does not: "I wonder if there's any such thing as a secure niche in the literary world? Perhaps there is; but if so, it would be a deadly thing to achieve in one's lifetime. Smugness and self-satisfaction are inimical to art." One theme that fails to emerge iswhat effect the university sinecures of so many contemporary American writers may have on our fiction. Like Busch (who teaches at Colgate University), most of the contributors are also academic professors. To paraphrase Samuel Beckett: Good writing is not about something; it is something itself. Busch's collection embodies good writing.
