A review by deborahrosereeves
The Art of the Short Story by R. Gwynn, Dana Gioia

4.0

In the spirit of Emerson who said "First we read, then we write", I picked up The Art of the Short Story. I'm learning so much from all who have gone before me. It can be intimidating, how can I hope to follow...? My favourite thing about this book is that each author is presented in three parts: a Biographical Sketch; an example of their work; and their perspective on why and how they write, the difficulties and pain involved... This section gives me hope. Everyone struggles, no-one finds it easy, every "great" was once a novice who looked to the "greats" before them...