"Earnest, amusing, and contemplative....though Beattie is known for
her fiction, her nonfiction has just as much to offer."--Publishers
Weekly
"Shimmering prose and critical acumen on display in an eclectic
collection."--Kirkus Reviews
As deeply rewarding as her fiction, a selection of Ann Beattie's essays,
chosen and introduced by the author. From appreciations of writers,
photographers, and other artists, to notes on the craft of writing
itself, this is a wide-ranging, and always penetrating collection of
writing never before published in book form.
Ann Beattie, a master storyteller, has been delighting readers since the
publication of her short stories in the 1970s and her first novel,
Chilly Scenes of Winter. But as her literary acclaim grew and she
was hailed "the voice of her generation," Ms. Beattie was also
moonlighting as a nonfiction writer. As she writes in her introduction
to this collection, "Nonfiction always gave me a thrill, even if it
provided only an illusion of freedom. Freedom and flexibility--for me,
those are the conditions under which imagination sparks."
These penetrating essays are stories unto themselves, closely observed
appreciations of life and art. The reader travels with Ms. Beattie to
Cedar Rapids, Iowa to learn about the legacy of the painter, Grant Wood,
and his iconic painting American Gothic; to the famed University of
Virginia campus with her husband, the painter Lincoln Perry; to Key
West, Florida for New Years with writer and translator, Harry Mathews;
to a roadside near Boston in a broken-down car with the wheelchair-bound
writer Andre Dubus.
There are explorations of novels, short stories, paintings, and
photographs by artists ranging from Alice Munro to Elmore Leonard, from
Sally Mann to John Loengard. Whatever the subject, Ms. Beattie brings
penetrating insight into literature and art that's both familiar and
unfamiliar--as she writes, "This, I think, is what artists want to do:
find a way to lure the reader or viewer into an alternate realm, to
overcome the audience's resistance to being taken away from their own
lives and interests and priorities."
Ann Beattie's nonfiction (originally published in Life, The New
Yorker, The New York Times, and The American Scholar, among others)
is a new way to enjoy one of the great writers of her generation.
Readers will find much to love in this journey with a curious and
fascinating mind.
More to Say is part of Godine's Nonpareil series: celebrating the
joy of discovery with books bound to be classics.
