This one is excellent. It is a pleasure to read, and very instructive as well. It reminds me of a movie like "Shakespeare in Love" -- one that uses excerpts from great written works to illustrate and thereby uplevel its own self by appropriation of the masterworks. In this it is quite effective and all the more beautiful. I would also recommend 2 other books which my friend Clint Arthur highly recommends as being influential to his own writing: "Writing Down The Bones" and "The Artist's Way"

I stayed up until 2:00 last night because I could not disengage from this brilliant, generous, thrilling testament to the power of close reading and the lessons therein for writers of fiction. Thank you, Francine Prose. -- Monica Wood

Fiction writer, critic and essayist, Francine Prose has devoted much of her career to teaching creative writing and literature. She has learned along with her students that the key to writing is close reading of others. In this book she shares the tricks of the masters with both general readers and would-be writers, that is to say, with all of us who truly love books. As a general reader and poet, I didn't know how much I would get out of this book since the great majority of her examples are from prose writers. However, the opening chapters on "words", "sentences" and "paragraphs" will feel very familiar to anyone who struggles daily with the most elementary building blocks of language. Prose devotes individual chapters to such subjects as well as "narration", "character", and "dialogue", and the lessons to be learned from her hero Chekhov. The extensive quotations from many short story writers new to me made me eager to read their works and sure enough, Prose's enthusiasm is such that the reading list she provides at the end is titled "Books to Be Read Immediately". That will give you some idea of her generosity and spirited discussion. Poets know that there is no writing without reading, that a poet should read 100 poems for each poem that he writes and that there is no reading like close reading: for inspiration, for pleasure, for lessons in technique, for the opportunity to steal a word, a phrase or an idea. Whether you plan to write or not, this book is certain to make you a better reader, thereby increasing the pleasure of your reading.

This is an excellent book on reading and writing and the title says it all. It was eye opening to know what I, as a reader should be aware when reading good and bad writing.

While I was reading the book, I felt like I was sitting in one of Ms. Prose courses and she, as my English professor, was explaining to me how this author did this and why another author wrote this way. It enabled me to realize the fine points of word choice and paragraph structure, which I will remember when writing, in addition to how it is the writers' job to engage the reader with his or her writings.

This book allowed me to see how a writer should write or should look at writing their piece and how I, as the reader, should respond to their writing. It was especially poignant when Ms. Prose said we should slow down when reading. This is against the norm of reading as fast as you can. However, when you read too fast you miss the most important parts of any piece. Reading is not about racing; it is about enjoying the adventure. It also provided me with thought on how I can learn from the classic and contemporary writers to improve my own writing. However, I am not sure I will be able to read "all" the 117 books she recommends to be read immediately. I will just savor each, one at a time.

If you love to read and want to read more effectively, or if you are a writer who wants to write the next hit novel, read this book. It will provide you with numerous points on writing and reading that you never thought of before. After reading this book, you will never look at a book again the same way.

Thanks Ms. Prose for a wonderful lesson. I enjoyed your class.