I got half way through and got bored. Rather disappointing. ( )

What a fun and inventive book! Picked it up by chance and couldn't put it down until I finished. ( )

This book takes a novel approach in its writing style, comprised entirely of the written communication between an instructor and his students participating in a correspondence school for creative writing. Wendell is a formerly successful author who currently makes his living through these courses. As the lessons progress, it becomes clear that Wendell is picking up as much from his students (sometimes quite literally) as his students are learning from him.

This writing style allowed for the creative addition of different points of view and wholly independent plot points. As they are submitted as assignments for the course, these storylines break up the flow in a pleasing way, and each student and his/her stories are well developed. Some of the sections are so well written with such interesting components, I found myself backtracking a little to read them again.

I read this relatively quickly, a sure sign of how much I enjoy a book. Then I came to the end. I can’t even explain it, even if I didn’t mind throwing out spoilers. It just kind of ended. Some of the stories came to their natural conclusions, but one of the most significant is left kind of hanging out there – and the way it ended was actually slightly distasteful – something completely out of character based on the rest of the book. Overall I still enjoyed it, but I knocked off a half star for the sheer bafflement of the end. ( )

A hilarious read! Writer Wendell Newton offers his tutelage by mail to an eclectic group of folks looking to write. The correspondence back and forth between teacher and student gives the reader an interesting look into the minds and motivations of both parties. I look forward to future work by this author, a teacher himself. ( )

http://www.iwilldare.com/2007/04/08/famous-writers-school/ ( )