On Writing by Stephen King
|
Book Summary Author: Stephen King Edition: Mass Market Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2002-07-01 ISBN: 0743455967 Number of pages: 320 Publisher: Pocket Books Accessories:
|
| New | New Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $27.00 | ||
| Used | Used Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $1.23 | ||
| Collectible | Collectible Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $9.95 |
Your purchase is protected by the A-to-z Safe Buying Guarantee. Amazon.com automatically transfers your payment to the merchant so you'll never need to pay a merchant directly. Amazon.com A-to-z Safe Buying Guarantee covers both the delivery of your item and its condition upon receipt.
Book Reviews of the On Writing
Customer Review: Save Your Money, this is a waste of time
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this book on the strength of the excerpt published in "The New Yorker" about King's injury by a lunatic-driven van in 1999 while taking a walk in Maine. That essay was quite good, and a steal for the price of the magazine. It's added on at the end of "On Writing", as a sort of PS. That it wasn't integrated into the work as a whole shows me, at least, that neither King or his editor really cared about this book in the first place.This book is a crude, banal, meandering, self-absorbed effort--to call it a work is too kind--that isn't worth the 7.99 I dished out for it. I am not a fan of King's, I admit, though I remember reading "Carrie" and really liking it--in high school. Still, I like all kinds of music, movies, and books, and was really looking forward to hearing some interesting insights on the craft. Something like John Gardner's "On the Art of Fiction". Well, forget it, that's not here. Yes, the stuff about how he sold "Carrie" and lifted himself out of poverty is interesting, and at times, very funny. But that's it. Take "The Elements of Style", reduce its insights into writing by 2/3's, and add plenty of fart jokes, moronic stereotypes about religion, strained and boring metaphors and analogies about writing, and presto, you have this, er, book. Sorry, Steve, it just ain't worth two Extra Value Meals at McDonald's, and that's the truth.