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writing, nonfiction writing, and more--with
these helpful resources and links.
for Academic Writing, Nonfiction Writing, and Other
Creative Writing
*I try to recommend only books I have read/used.
*I try to avoid titles that you can and likely have already seen
umpteen zillion times on a million lists.
*I offer here a teeny, manageable list, one that you can get
through before you die, so when you don't find Catcher in the Rye
or The Exorcist here, please understand I am not slighting... just
abstaining from including the Library of Congress catalog, which I
can get crazy and tempted and carried away doing if I'm not
careful.
Another note about finding helpful resources/links and clicking:
When you click on a link, you will be taken to that resource's
page at the legendary Powell's, one of the largest, most
accommodating, and most accessible independent stores in the
world.
Another damned note...on why I chose Powell's
If I had my way (and lots of cash), I would loan you the books.
But I can't (and don't).
So thanks to the wonders of linking, I can recommend a book and
show you at least the cover and a blurb--through Powell's. If you
love, need, invest in, or use books, do check this place further.
Not only is it an independent bookstore and not only is it one of
the world's largest surviving bookstores (when you walk in the
door of the city block-long place, they hand you a map), but
Powell's fills orders reliably and quickly. I've been there and I've
ordered from them many times. Impressive.
Reference Books
Terms.
Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
Strunk, and White. Elements of Style.
give to things, the air, tragic at times, pathetic at
others, of such things—all lend a curious
attractiveness to the reality of the world that should
not be underprized….
Let that be the poetry we search for: worn with the
hand’s obligations, as by acids, steeped in sweat
and in smoke, swelling of lilies and urine, spattered
diversely by the trades that we live by, inside the
law or beyond it. ~ Pablo Neruda
(This text is remarkable for tightening prose. Great
examples, too, from contemporary life.)
Dillard, Annie. The Writing Life.
Brilliant explication with stunning metaphors...right from
the very first page.
Trimble, John. Writing with Style.
(This book is superb. Over 300 of my students have
appreciated how short, easy, and engaging Trimble's
writing is, as well as how he truly practices what he
preaches. Don't you hate it when someone tells you
one way and then does it another?)
Bradbury, Ray. Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones.
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.
Plimpton, George. Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, second edition. 4 vols.
Plimpton, George. Women Writers at Work: the Paris Review Interviews.
King, Stephen. On Writing.
Updike, John. "Why Write." Picked-up Pieces.
I thought it appropriate to list one single perfect book here.
Nonprofessional Writer.
Mcdonnell, Jayne Tayl. Living to Tell the Tale: A Guide to Writing Memoir.
futuristic social order that might not be far off.
Auster, Paul. The New York Trilogy is a stunning representation of postmodern thinking and
being--delivered in a minimalist style. Can you make sense of this work?
Dick, Phillip K.. Start with The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, an intellectual and psychological
bending you won't soon forget. Dick is my number one choice for SF, surpassing Bradbury and
Orwell, which is inconceivable, isn't it? Read Dick and let me know if you agree.
Morrison, Toni. Anything and everything you can read by Morrison will expand your sense of self
and all of your senses, as well. But if you need a starter, go for The Bluest Eye, Sula, or Tar Baby.
Toole, John Kennedy. I buy copies of the one book Toole wrote before he killed himself, A
Confederacy of Dunces, for those "loner" students who are closet genii (geniuses) who don't do the
social thing.
Sedaris, David. It's nearly impossible to make people laugh at printed words. Unless you're David
Sedaris. When I read about the young boy's OCD ritual of licking a light switch when he entered a
room, with his apron-clad, whiskey-swilling, cigarette-puffing mother looking on in utter disgust and
dismay--in one Naked short story, I peed a little.
Styron, William. Sophie's Choice. A writer narrates the reality of a woman whose life is contingent
upon who she was during Nazi internment--when she had to choose which child to sacrifice.
Thomas, Abigail. Minimalist style short stories, such as those in Getting Over Tom, disclose what it is
to grow up and be a teen and a low-income, shiftless malcontent.
Updike, John. When I first climbed the sewing room bookcase to retrieve his books from their
stashed-away top shelf where Mother had tucked them, I knew I would never be the same writer
(or wannabe writer) again. With The Centaur, Couples, and the Rabbit quatrology (which begins
with Rabbit, Run), with their expansive artifice that chronicle human behavior, relationships, and
socio-political conditions of a time, I wanted to marry John Updike when I grew up. Now I want to
be John Updike.
More to come when you're done with these thirteen. Conroy, DeLillo, Phillips, Kosinski, Bukowski....
2. Eggers, Dave. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
3. Holman, Virginia, Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories from a Decade Gone Mad
4. Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Living to Tell the Tale.
5. Moody, Rick. The Black Veil.
6. Nabokov, Vladimir. Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited.
7. Nasdajj, The Boy and the Dog are Sleeping.
8. Pelzer, Dave. A Child Called It.
9. Reichl, Ruth. Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table.
10. Wiesel, Elie. Night.
11. Nguyen, Kien. The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood.
12. Teller, Edward, Judith Shoolery. Memoirs: A Twentieth-century Journey in Science and
Politics.
A Note to Our Elders
I purposely avoid synopsizing or editorializing here, as I will want your fresh
impressions (and not my stale recall) to influence your memoirs, which you can
start for free on the Memoir Writing Help and Memoir Writing Tips/Tricks pages.
Cohen, Leonard
Dick, Philip K.
Hemingway, Ernest
Jong, Erica
Kosinski, Jerzy
Nabokov, Vladimir
Nin, Anais
Phillips, Jayne Anne
Plath, Sylvia
Proust, Marcel
Rilke, Rainer Maria
Roethke, Theodore
Thomas, Abigail
Updike, John
writing, poetry writing, or just want to suggest a
great title, email me. I'd love to hear from you.
credits section.
