About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, & Five Interviews
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Essential reading for the creative writer…. More >>
About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, & Five Interviews
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Tags: About, Essays, Five, Four, Interviews, Letters, Seven, Writing
Frankly, I found this deeply disappointing. I read a few of Delany’s books a few years ago and liked them for their full-on romanticism, their vision and enthusiasm. But these essays are fundamentally dull. Maybe it’s their subjects. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone but Dr Dryasdust and his colleagues. How did this fine Romantic become such a dreary academic ?
Rating: 1 / 5
Samuel R. Delany has proven himself to be a polymath of the highest rank during a brilliant career that’s expanded the bounds of every genre he has touched. His work in the Seventies helped shape my own desire to join the ranks of published writers and I read this book at a point when I’ve already written a novel, had numerous nonfiction articles published and continue to hone my craft as a fiction writer.
I’ve read numerous texts in recent years about writing and it’s not easy to say very much that is new, given the many titles in the space. But I did find a lot of value in this book. Like most of Delany’s work, the reader has to work pretty hard, but then is rewarded by various gems. For example, I found his section on the nits of grammar in the back to be very helpful, as he provided clear examples of how to use various subtle techniques such as the em-dash properly. I’ve kept this section close at hand during some recent editing sessions.
Delany does not say that we are all made to be writers (quite the opposite) and his thesis that the decisive factor for success is Talent will upset some readers. Nonetheless, Delany has much to say about what it takes to become a published writer and I believe this book will be valuable for writers at various levels along the path to publication and beyond who want to become better writers.
Rating: 5 / 5
About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, And Five Interviews by literary critic, writers workshop teacher, and world renowned science fiction author Samuel R Delany (Professor of English and Creative Writing, Temple University, Philadelphia) is an informed and informative study of the expertise necessary for a writer in any genre to become more organized, more knowledgeable, and more effective with the ultimate goal of profitable publication. As an analysis of modern and contemporary writing styles, About Writing informs the aspiring author of the ins and outs of technique, ideals, and styles for the most effective writing. About Writing is very strongly recommended to all literature enthusiasts, readers, writers, and students.
Rating: 5 / 5
Delany is a writer’s writer and has a lot of useful insights. He tends to become a bit conservative though, but it doesn’t hurt the book. You just have to remember to preserve your own vision while reading.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am of the opinion that Samuel Delany’s Dhalgren is one of the most important novels of the last forty years. It is as challenging as Gravity’s Rainbow, but much more rewarding and politically complicated. And as a friend said once, it makes you feel kind of funny when you read it.
I love most of Delany’s work, the essays on French theory, the memoirs on growing up black, queer and dyslexic in New York City, the science fiction, most of the gay erotica (though not even I can stomach Hogg) just about all of it really. So, when I saw this volume of his collected writings on writing, I had high hopes. I was disappointed. Delany on just about anything is an interesting, but here, I think he fell short. Good books on writing are hard to come by, beyond the technical nature of writing, there is little that can really be imparted in an essay, and especially an essay by a guy who is more comfortable with Lacan and spaceships than he is with self help talk of finding the writers voice.
That is not to say there are not some helpful tidbits in here, there are. There is some solid technical advice, and some interesting rambling about what it means to be a writer, creating worlds day in and day out. Unfortunately, though much of this I found below the usual level of Delany brilliance. If you’re looking for some good Delany, instead of About Writing, read Dhalgren, Nova, Longer Views, The Motion of Light in Water and 1984
Rating: 3 / 5