Rating: 
Summary: No flash in this lightning
Review: Maybe a sequel never lives up to the original. At any rate, it's hard to believe this book was written by the same person who gave us Writing Down the Bones. Goldberg-as-teacher sounds like she's hit a mid-life crisis, and she's so tired of the process, she can barely remember why writing mattered in the first place. Most serious writers are prone to navel-gazing, so we can't blame her for musing about the meaning of a writing life. But this book shouldn't be promoted as a "how-to," or even an inspirational tome. Sadly, for all its brevity, this book has none of the flash and brilliance of Goldberg's first. Perhaps she meant to show us the lightning, but she ended up giving us no illumination at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Natalie's Done it Again!
Review: Natalie Goldberg fans will be very happy with this book! In true Natalie style, the book unfolds as part memoir, part writing manual, and part essay on writing. Natalie could've chosen to simply write in "textbook style". However, this book is better than that. She gives sage advice on what to do once you feel comfortable with writing practice. And she tells you where she is on the path to writing. One thing I really love about the style of this book is that she doesn't simply lay the lessons out like you are back in grammar school learning everything by rote memorization. Instead, she takes you on the journey of how she learned each of the lessons herself -- which I think makes them more personal and more meaningful. She interviews her writer friends to learn how they find structure in their books as well as their methods of working. And you follow along as she struggles to understand plot. It is a fascinating glimpse into the world of writing -- both the successes and failures. This is a book to come back to again and again. It's packed with rich insight and practical exercises. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves Natalie Goldberg!
Rating: 
Summary: Birkenstock wearers only please!
Review: Natalie Goldberg has published one novel, a book of poems, and half a dozen books about writing. Is she case of "those who can't do, teach?" I wondered myself, until I listened to audiotapes of this book on a long cross-country drive. Once I got past the author's accent, which deterred even this ex-New Yorker, I found sparkling gems of wisdom that shone more brightly on a second read-around. The hardcover edition was even better. Like all Goldberg's nonfiction, this book is a series of short essays and memoirs, which can be read randomly, but I recommend taking the chapters in order. Goldberg begins by throwing cold water on a dream. Writing won't bring you a living, a solution to life's problems, a bowl of raspberries. Writing is, after all, just writing. Natalie herself was not an overnight success. The author's mother encouraged her to get a teaching credential because "you can write in the summers." Young Natalie taught elementary school, worked in a restaurant, and briefly ran a catering business. At twenty-six she discovered zen practice, which transformed her life and literally gave shape to her writing. After thirteen years of "writing practice," she published her first book, a small-press release that became an unlikely best-seller.
Thunder and Lightning offers wonderful glimpses of Goldberg's famous writing workshops as well as the way she wrote her one novel, Banana Rose. Anyone who has tried to create can understand the need for a practice, getting past a "block" and taking criticism in stride. You have to find a way to go on and if you do, the work takes on a life of its own.
As Goldberg says, in perhaps the most important insight of this book, readers are fascinated by process. Books about writing often out-sell the products of writing -- novels and poems. And that is why her own books are so successful.
Thunder and Lightning is the real deal. Zen practice gives the author a genuine spiritual foundation, not a cosmetic cover-up. In writing about writing she touches on careers, vocation, family, opening up the self to growth. In the end, Thunder and Lightning is not about writing. It's about life.
Rating:
Summary: "It's really about life."
Review: Natalie Goldberg has published one novel, a book of poems, and half a dozen books about writing. Is she case of "those who can't do, teach?" I wondered myself, until I listened to audiotapes of this book on a long cross-country drive. Once I got past the author's accent, which deterred even this ex-New Yorker, I found sparkling gems of wisdom that shone more brightly on a second read-around. The hardcover edition was even better. Like all Goldberg's nonfiction, this book is a series of short essays and memoirs, which can be read randomly, but I recommend taking the chapters in order. Goldberg begins by throwing cold water on a dream. Writing won't bring you a living, a solution to life's problems, a bowl of raspberries. Writing is, after all, just writing. Natalie herself was not an overnight success. The author's mother encouraged her to get a teaching credential because "you can write in the summers." Young Natalie taught elementary school, worked in a restaurant, and briefly ran a catering business. At twenty-six she discovered zen practice, which transformed her life and literally gave shape to her writing. After thirteen years of "writing practice," she published her first book, a small-press release that became an unlikely best-seller.
Thunder and Lightning offers wonderful glimpses of Goldberg's famous writing workshops as well as the way she wrote her one novel, Banana Rose. Anyone who has tried to create can understand the need for a practice, getting past a "block" and taking criticism in stride. You have to find a way to go on and if you do, the work takes on a life of its own.
As Goldberg says, in perhaps the most important insight of this book, readers are fascinated by process. Books about writing often out-sell the products of writing -- novels and poems. And that is why her own books are so successful.
Thunder and Lightning is the real deal. Zen practice gives the author a genuine spiritual foundation, not a cosmetic cover-up. In writing about writing she touches on careers, vocation, family, opening up the self to growth. In the end, Thunder and Lightning is not about writing. It's about life.
Rating:
Summary: "It's really about life."
Review: Natalie Goldberg has published one novel, a book of poems, and half a dozen books about writing. Is she case of "those who can't do, teach?" I wondered myself, until I listened to audiotapes of this book on a long cross-country drive. Once I got past the author's accent, which deterred even this ex-New Yorker, I found sparkling gems of wisdom that shone more brightly on a second read-around. The hardcover edition was even better. Like all Goldberg's nonfiction, this book is a series of short essays and memoirs, which can be read randomly, but I recommend taking the chapters in order. Goldberg begins by throwing cold water on a dream. Writing won't bring you a living, a solution to life's problems, a bowl of raspberries. Writing is, after all, just writing. Natalie herself was not an overnight success. The author's mother encouraged her to get a teaching credential because "you can write in the summers." Young Natalie taught elementary school, worked in a restaurant, and briefly ran a catering business. At twenty-six she discovered zen practice, which transformed her life and literally gave shape to her writing. After thirteen years of "writing practice," she published her first book, a small-press release that became an unlikely best-seller.
Thunder and Lightning offers wonderful glimpses of Goldberg's famous writing workshops as well as the way she wrote her one novel, Banana Rose. Anyone who has tried to create can understand the need for a practice, getting past a "block" and taking criticism in stride. You have to find a way to go on and if you do, the work takes on a life of its own.
As Goldberg says, in perhaps the most important insight of this book, readers are fascinated by process. Books about writing often out-sell the products of writing -- novels and poems. And that is why her own books are so successful.
Thunder and Lightning is the real deal. Zen practice gives the author a genuine spiritual foundation, not a cosmetic cover-up. In writing about writing she touches on careers, vocation, family, opening up the self to growth. In the end, Thunder and Lightning is not about writing. It's about life.
Rating:
Summary: The More She Writes, the Better She Gets...
Review: Natalie Goldberg is an incredible writing teacher, and this book really gets down to the nuts and bolts. How to really "be" a writer. The "chapter" (they're more like essays) on mentoring really got to me, and made me realize how much I've gained from reading Natalie's books over the years, using her as a non-present mentor, and how much my mentors have meant to me. This is a great book for anyone who cares about writing and words, and I'd recommend all of Natalie Goldberg's work.
Rating:
Summary: Don't trust this woman!
Review: Never, never, never take writing advice from a woman who spends more time writing about writing than she does writing her own fiction. In fact, reading books about writing is silly. If you want to write fiction, read fiction. If you want to write poetry, read poetry. If you want to write writing-advice books, all right, read this as a sample, but at least admit to yourself that you just want to make a buck off other non-writers pretending they're writers.
Rating:
Summary: Moving beyond Wild Mind into Structure
Review: Reading one of Natalie Goldberg's books on writing is like having a chat in a cafe with a dear friend. I'd read her first two and wondered what more she could have to say on the subject. The answer: lots. In this book she moves the reader beyond writing exercises, into how to tame that creative impulse into writing a finished product. Oh, and reading this gave me two inspirations on how to fix problems in the book I'm currently revising. Thanks, Natalie!
Rating:
Summary: Window Into a Writer's Mind
Review: Studying Natalie Goldberg's books has provided me with a tremendous number of insights as I embark on my own writing journey. I particularly enjoy listening to her books on audiotape while taking my daily walks. There is also a bonus with the audiotapes ---> Natalie often is interviewed afterwards and provides additional, fresh perspectives on her writing principles. Fellow reviewer Tesslyn stated that, although Natalie is "at opposite ends of the spectrum on God, philosophy, and morality," she nevertheless derives a great deal of enjoyment and knowledge from her books. Likewise, I sometimes think about how I too have so many divergent views about life; yet I continue to learn from Natalie's works and am enchanted with her authenticity, honesty, struggles, epiphanies, etc. While I don't always agree with her viewpoints, I respect them and gain relevant new insights into my own writing. Although I do not follow Natalie's tenet of rigorous "writing practice" every morning---I prefer to start off with writing in my journal---I have applied her free-flowing principles when I begin new chapters, scenes, etc. In Thunder and Lightning, Natalie goes past the hype of "let's all be writers and discover our true inner selves" and exposes the reality that writing, in and of itself, will not provide us with total fulfillment. Nevertheless, the process of communicating can be rewarding and the results can have a positive impact on our readers. And we fulfill that strange calling that compels us to write. Thanks Natalie for your efforts to inspire and incite us.
Rating:
Summary: Birkenstock wearers only please!
Review: The only thing missing from this waste of time is a cup of herbal tea.
Ooh, look at the pretty rainbow!
Pass the incense please.
Uugh!
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