How to Read a Novelist
John Freeman
- The
- novel
- is
- alive
- and
- well,
- thank
- you
- very
- muchFor
- the
- last
- fifteen
- years,
- whenever
- a
- novel
- was
- published,
- John
- Freeman
- was
- there
- to
- greet
- it.
- As
- a
- critic
- for
- more
- than
- two
- hundred
- newspapers
- worldwide,
- the
- onetime
- president
- of
- the
- National
- Book
- Critics
- Circle,
- and
- the
- former
- editor
- of
- Granta,
- he
- has
- reviewed
- thousands
- of
- books
- and
- interviewed
- scores
- of
- writers.
- In
- How
- to
- Read
- a
- Novelist,
- which
- pulls
- together
- his
- very
- best
- profiles
- (many
- of
- them
- new
- or
- completely
- rewritten
- for
- this
- volume)
- of
- the
- very
- best
- novelists
- of
- our
- time,
- he
- shares
- with
- us
- what
- he's
- learned.
From
- such
- international
- stars
- as
- Doris
- Lessing,
- Haruki
- Murakami,
- Salman
- Rushdie,
- and
- Mo
- Yan,
- to
- established
- American
- lions
- such
- as
- Don
- DeLillo,
- Norman
- Mailer,
- Toni
- Morrison,
- Marilynne
- Robinson,
- Philip
- Roth,
- John
- Updike,
- and
- David
- Foster
- Wallace,
- to
- the
- new
- guard
- of
- Edwidge
- Danticat,
- Dave
- Eggers,
- Jonathan
- Franzen,
- and
- more,
- Freeman
- has
- talked
- to
- everyone.
What
- emerges
- is
- an
- instructive
- and
- illuminating,
- definitive
- yet
- still
- idiosyncratic
- guide
- to
- a
- diverse
- and
- lively
- literary
- culture:
- a
- vision
- of
- the
- novel
- as
- a
- varied
- yet
- vital
- contemporary
- form,
- a
- portrait
- of
- the
- novelist
- as
- a
- unique
- and
- profound
- figure
- in
- our
- fragmenting
- global
- culture,
- and
- a
- book
- that
- will
- be
- essential
- reading
- for
- every
- aspiring
- writer
- and
- engaged
- reader—a
- perfect
- companion
- (or
- gift!)
- for
- anyone
- who's
- ever
- curled
- up
- with
- a
- novel
- and
- wanted
- to
- know
- a
- bit
- more
- about
- the
- person
- who
- made
- it possible.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
