Reviews

The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives by Jeff Schwager

mfumarolo's review against another edition

2.0

A longtime fan of podcasts such as But That's Another Story and Bookmarks, both of which interview authors about their favorite books and/or the books that have shaped them, I was hoping this book would be more of the same. However, two main differences prevented that from being the case. For one, the podcasts ask writers to select a book (or perhaps, isolate their choice to an author/series). In The Writer's Library, chapters are full transcripts of conversations that go all over the place, covering a wide range of writings. At times it was overwhelming, leaving me feeling like I was listening in on a private conversation I wasn't informed enough on the subject to be a part of (which was surprising given my literature and library degrees). Secondly, as the book was composed of interview transcripts, I felt like there was far too much of the interviewers in this book. I found their commentary distracting and, again, made me, the reader, feel like I did not belong there. Combine this with the fact that many of the authors selected here seem to be of the same generation and therefore there was a lot of overlap in books that were discussed, and this book was only okay.

erin_boyington's review against another edition

4.0

Turns out this was exactly what I needed in my current COVID-19 lockdown reading slump: some time eavesdropping on Nancy Pearl, Jeff Schwager, and some of the best writers alive as they talk about a topic I never tire of.

If you're looking for an objective review, this isn't it - Nancy Pearl was one of my teachers at library school and I'm a total fan. I can hear her voice in the questions and it brings a smile to my face to get the feeling of sitting with her as she asks smart and interesting questions about the impact reading has in the development of supremely creative people.

As usual, she also added new titles to my never-ending TBR shelf on Goodreads:
The Lonely Doll Dare Wright
Jesus' Son Denis Johnson
Birds of America Lorrie Moore
Samuel Johnson is Indignant Lydia Davis (just got my digital copy from the library!)
Several Walter Tevis books
Little Big Man Thomas Berger
The Voice at 3 a.m. Charles Simic

And quite a few more, including a resolution to keep re-reading Watership Down as much as possible for the good of my soul.

Received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.