"Earnest, amusing, and contemplative....though Beattie is known for
her fiction, her nonfiction has just as much to offer."-Publishers
Weekly "Shimmering prose and critical acumen on display in an
eclectic collection."-Kirkus Reviews As deeply rewarding as her
fiction, a selection of Ann Beattie's essays, chosen and introduced
by the author. From appreciations of writers, photographers, and
other artists, to notes on the craft of writing itself, this is a
wide-ranging, and always penetrating collection of writing never
before published in book form. Ann Beattie, a master storyteller,
has been delighting readers since the publication of her short
stories in the 1970s and her first novel, Chilly Scenes of Winter.
But as her literary acclaim grew and she was hailed "the voice of
her generation," Ms. Beattie was also moonlighting as a nonfiction
writer. As she writes in her introduction to this collection,
"Nonfiction always gave me a thrill, even if it provided only an
illusion of freedom. Freedom and flexibility-for me, those are the
conditions under which imagination sparks." These penetrating
essays are stories unto themselves, closely observed appreciations
of life and art. The reader travels with Ms. Beattie to Cedar
Rapids, Iowa to learn about the legacy of the painter, Grant Wood,
and his iconic painting American Gothic; to the famed University of
Virginia campus with her husband, the painter Lincoln Perry; to Key
West, Florida for New Years with writer and translator, Harry
Mathews; to a roadside near Boston in a broken-down car with the
wheelchair-bound writer Andre Dubus. There are explorations of
novels, short stories, paintings, and photographs by artists
ranging from Alice Munro to Elmore Leonard, from Sally Mann to John
Loengard. Whatever the subject, Ms. Beattie brings penetrating
insight into literature and art that's both familiar and
unfamiliar-as she writes, "This, I think, is what artists want to
do: find a way to lure the reader or viewer into an alternate
realm, to overcome the audience's resistance to being taken away
from their own lives and interests and priorities." Ann Beattie's
nonfiction (originally published in Life, The New Yorker, The New
York Times, and The American Scholar, among others) is a new way to
enjoy one of the great writers of her generation. Readers will find
much to love in this journey with a curious and fascinating mind.
More to Say is part of Godine's Nonpareil imprint: celebrating the
joy of discovery with books bound to be classics.
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