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4.0 out of 5 starsGreat resources on memoir writing
Reviewed in the United States on 22 May 2019
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Reading this book has opened my eyes and made me realize that there’s no big difference between a good fiction and memoirs. A good story is a good story. Filled with clear examples and solid advices (especially on the publishing part), this book will help you craft a powerful memoir/narrative nonfiction/personal essays
A member of my writing group lent me this book not knowing I have an aversion to being told how to write. (Which makes me wonder what I'm doing in a writer's group, but let's let that slide for the moment.) I took the book to be polite, then let it sit on my desk for a week, cover down. But I had a few moments to kill one day and though "what the hell." Boy was I surprised, and pleasantly so. Lara's work is insightful and laugh out loud funny, and the language flows even when she discusses nuance in style--I'm reading as much because it is a really good read as I am for any guidance it offers. As well thought out and as well presented as it is, the guidance offered is the added bonus. I'm getting from this book what I had hoped to get from the MFA creative writing program I'm currently enrolled in: pedagogy. Lest that word ring clamorous in your ear, I teach basic essay writing at a JC, and I need to know the "why" before I swallow the pill--how else could I use it in the classroom? Lara offers such well chosen examples to illustrate each point she makes that I open wide. And when I start to feel a little inadequate--after all, being told how best to write will probably always create a knee-jerk inversion in this reader--she understands that, too, sharing her experiences, and those of other writers, in order to lead my inner writing troll to an acceptance of the need to revise. Highly recommended.
5.0 out of 5 starsUseful guide to writers and students
Reviewed in the United States on 19 July 2020
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Precise and to the point, with eloquence and helpful pointers, this writing guide is a winner. I recommend it for MFA students or anyone who is interested in publishing nonfiction.