![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() For readers interested in literary theory, Alison does a great job making it palatable." - Kirkus Reviews "In this wholly original analysis of style, explores the forms and shapes that narrative can take, pushing the bounds of storytelling beyond the infamous pyramid of climax. It would do a disservice to this work to pigeonhole it as 'literary criticism' the study is filled with clarity and wit, underlain with formidable erudition." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Novelist Alison's stylistic primer promises to stand apart, among the many writing guides publishing next year, in its tightly focused attention to the nuts and bolts of technique." - Publishers Weekly, 1 of the Top 10 Books for Spring, Essays & Literary Criticism "Venturing into the world of narrative theory, takes a personal and idiosyncratic approach. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.Īdvance Praise for Meander, Spiral, Explode A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Book of the Season A Big Other Most Anticipated Small Press Book of the Year " boundlessly inventive look at narrative form. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let's leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her "museum of specimens" include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel Garc a M rquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison. Sebald's Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc-or, in nature, wave. But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculosexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Maris Kreizman, Vulture A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019 A Poets & Writers Best Books for Writers As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: "For centuries there's been one path through fiction we're most likely to travel one we're actually told to followand that's the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides. Alison asserts that the best stories follow patterns in nature, and by defining these new styles she offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive. How lovely to discover a book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read. ![]()
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