Master Class: Scenes from a Fiction Workshop - Hardcover

West, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151005745 ISBN 13: 9780151005741

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001

Synopsis

The acclaimed novelist and author of The Secret Life of Words re-creates his last writing seminar in which fifteen students reflect on the art of writing great fiction as they discuss one another's work and shares their insights into the creative writing process. 15,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Paul West, called "a national treasure," is the author of eighteen novels, most recently Life with Swan, and ten works of nonfiction. A recipient of numerous awards and honors, he has taught at Brown University, Cornell University, and the University of Arizona.

Reviews

"I am a species of Nero, good at his trade, but fiddling while Literature burns and the amount of it undertaken by successive generations becomes smaller and smaller." So says renowned novelist (The Dry Danube, etc.) and revered fiction teacher West as he reflects upon his efforts to inspire 15 students selected for a graduate seminar in fiction writing at an undisclosed university. Master Class is a combination of West's descriptions and transcriptions of their class meetings. Two tendencies play off of each other here: while many of the students are already established writers, West speaks as if they might be approaching English for the first time ("English... is full of invisible words such as he and it and and and is the American vice, poor substitute for lyrical deployment over a full skein of grammar"); on the other hand, West also assumes an immense knowledge of world literature, philosophy and music. In each chapter, West considers a student's original work, often riffing brilliantly upon his/her literary influences, pop culture in America (such as Blue Velvet and Alien) and the very nature of writing itself. Though he speaks idealistically about the writing process, West nonetheless shrewdly assesses each student's publishing potential, though usually only to himself (e.g., "This verbal fecundity... promises Dimitri a difficult publishing career"). One's head may be reeling by the end of this work from the sheer force of West's brain power, the range and rapidity of his literary references, and the cleverness of his spontaneous pedagogical metaphors. But reading this work is almost like participating in the seminar, without actually having to share one's own writing with the class and without the vulnerability that that necessarily entails. (Aug.) Forecast: This is a natural anywhere there is a university writing program. But all aspiring writers will want to read it, if the book gets the review attention it deserves. Harcourt's Harvest imprint will promoting the reprint of West's acclaimed Secret Lives of Words along with Master Class.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

West's erudite yet Rabelaisian pleasure in language and literature is sumptuously apparent in his splendid novels and works of nonfiction. Proof that he is as enthusiastic, brilliant, generous, and daring a teacher as he is a reader and a writer is found in this sparkling account of the last of his famous fiction seminars. Here is West, attired in soccer shorts and a button-down shirt, by turns jocular, exacting, and mystical, leading intense conversations with 15 sophisticated and talented students. The discussions range from the work of Proust, Beckett, Hemingway, and Robbe-Grillet to that of the students, who become vivid characters as they respond to West's incisive technical suggestions and philosophical observations. West also offers arrestingly sardonic commentary on what it takes to sustain the literary life (stamina, fortitude, guts), the state of publishing (grim), and the reading public's interest in art as opposed to entertainment (microscopic). But his overarching message is celebration of the imagination and the magic writers experience, a radiance West bestows upon his dazzled and inspired students and readers. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

West is a prolific and talented writer of 18 novels (most recently, O.K.) whose diversity and breadth extends into his teaching skills (he has taught at Brown, Cornell, and the Univ. of Arizona). Unlike other how-to-write seminar workbooks, West's is an actual re-creation of his master class: 15 graduate students come together twice weekly to read, learn, discuss, analyze, and write under West's tutelage. This unique approach demonstrates how a gifted teacher uses classroom dynamics to generate and lead a discussion so that the instruction comes from revelations and insight rather than lectures and note taking. The success of his teaching method lies in the rare mix of advice and creative philosophy that his classes offer. Difficult to classify but fascinating nonetheless; buy where interest in creative writing is strong. Denise S. Sticha, Murrysville Community Lib., PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151005745
• ISBN 13: 9780151005741
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272