Jerome Stern (1938–1996)

Practical and straightforward advice. More on the side of definitions, advantages and disadvantages than "this is what is good". Offers lots of ways to play with the 'rules' of writing. If this were a grammar book, it'd be descriptive instead of prescription. In a lot of ways it's covering the same ground as [b:Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel|32095|Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel|Jane Smiley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168331509s/32095.jpg|801321], but far less academic and show more more useful. show less

It wasn't so much a manual of how to write as it was an encyclopedia of writing terms and conventions, all conveniently laid out in alphabetical order.

Seriously, nothing new is under the sun, and I've known about all of these since high-school, but sometimes it's kinda nice to be reminded of what you might have forgotten in your old, old, old age. You know, kinda like that old saying, "I've forgotten more than you've ever known." It makes me feel a little bit like a curmudgeon and an old show more fogey.

It's not a bad state to live in, btw. I recall that I wanted to be a curmudgeon when I was 16.

Now that I've read this, I feel like my life-long dream has finally come true. show less

It was used and had two pieces by Amy Hempel and Stuart Dybek--how could I possibly go wrong? I figured they'd be the best stories of the lot, but I was wrong. They blew me away, but other stories took bigger chunks out of me.

I have learned a lot from Stern. This is the best book I've read on the various ways longer fictional works can be conceived and structured. I use it in my English 307: Writing the Literary Novel course, and students love it. I highly recommend it for both teachers and students of creative writing.