U.S. & Canadian Authors - Interviews, Art - General & Miscellaneous, Creativity, Psychology & Literature, Dreams & Dream Interpretation
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Overview
On a spring morning in the early seventies, William Styron woke to the resonant, lingering image of a woman he had known before. She was, he recalls, "entering the hallway of this humble boarding house in Flatbush with a book under her arm, looking very beautiful in the middle of summer with a sort of summer dress on and her arm bared and the tattoo visible. . . . I was seized by this absolute sense of necessity - I had to write the book." Styron immediately went to his studio and, abandoning the novel he had been struggling to complete, wrote the opening paragraphs of Sophie's Choice. A remarkable number of talented artists find ideas and inspiration in the intermingling of dreams with their working life. The deep connection between the subconscious and the imagination has allowed these writers to solve problems, rewrite scenes and discover hidden truths in their writing. "Part of the beauty of dreams," explains Allan Gurganus, "is that they're eternally mysterious. And that's part of their meaning and power for us. They seem to have a kind of wisdom that we don't have in our waking lives." In this fascinating book, dream researcher and radio-show host Naomi Epel has compiled hours of interviews with twenty-six well-known writers to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the imagination. In their own words, they discuss the dreams that have had a powerful effect on their work and their lives, revealing in the process their philosophies, habitual rituals and ways of solving creative problems. Writers Dreaming is a unique anthology of wisdom from some of the most important writers in contemporary literature, allowing us to understand how they summon forth their ideas and fashion them into art. Its frank and revealing narrative provides a rare insight into the wellsprings of creativity.Editorials
Library Journal
Epel, a writer, dream researcher, radio talk-show host, and literary escort, has compiled interviews with 26 fiction authors she has chauffeured around San Francisco. She explores how these writers turn their dreams into art, how dreams affect their personal lives, and how their own questions about their dreams reveal their creative processes. A page-length biographical sketch and a photo precede each author's chapter. The monologs are often stream of consciousness and cover topics tangential to dreams but related to writing as well: e.g., Maya Angelou discusses overcoming writer's block; Sue Grafton describes plotting a mystery; and Stephen King examines symbolism. A fascinating work, but not a necessary purchase.-- Cathy Sabol, Northern Virginia Community Coll., ManassasPat Monaghan
Host of a public radio program called "DreamTalk," Epel draws from it these interviews with a stylistically and formally wide range of contemporary writers, from Stephen King to Allan Gurganus, from Spalding Gray to Sue Grafton. Not all use dreams in their work (Maya Angelou claims she rarely dreams), but all encounter the dreamlike realities of nonlinear, nonconscious thought while seeking ideas for their work. Readers looking for ways of applying dream insights to their own work will probably be disappointed, but there are marvelous nuggets to be discovered: William Styron's description of the haunting memory of a woman who became the heroine of "Sophie's Choice", Stephen King's direct transcription of a childhood nightmare into "Salem's Lot", Leonard Michaels' discussion of the "inhibitions" that freeze imagination. Reflecting their oral genesis in Epel's program, the voices of all the writers come through strongly.Book Details
Published
May 1, 1993
Publisher
New York : Vintage Books, 1994, c1993.
Pages
292
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780517589823