Rating: 
Summary: Pedantic, dry, example of not walking the talk
Review: I've been reading books on writing fiction lately, after 20 years as a relatively successful non-fiction writer with my writing in publications like Writer's Digest, Success, Omni, Reader's Digest..Frankly, I picked up this book over ten years earlier. And it was, I now realize, so dry, boring and difficult to get through that I put off my novel writing for years. Beware! Since then, I've read some great books on writing-- Christopher Vogler's THE WRITER's Journey, and Robert McKee's STORY STRUCTURE. I breezed through these, marking them up like crazy because of all the good ideas. I told a literary friend of mine about the books I'd been reading and he pooh-poohed them, insisting that Gardner's was the "real thing." So I went back and revisited it. I found it as turgid as the first time. Now, you may think I am some kind of airhead who doesn't do deep. But I am one of the few who actually finished reading Foucault's Pendulum, and have recently finished Ken Wilber's Marriage of Sense and Spirit-- a discussion of postmodernist scientific models and paradigms, as well as the journals in brain research I usually read for my profession I can read dense, difficult material! Bottom line: I'd hate to see this book turn someone off to writing when there are some great books out there. Maybe I'll revisit this one in a year or two.
Rating: 
Summary: Your Damn' Right He's a Snob
Review: If seeing literature as the guiding lamp for civilization, as something serious, romantic, and dramatic, as something "deep" and transcending--if this is "elitist", then I guess I'm a snob too. In an age where Fabio graces more covers than good, literary novels, thank god Gardner's book is still around, still breathing on the shelves. Seriously, if demanding the highest truths is elitist, I would like some justification.
Rating:
Summary: John Gardner is the Man
Review: If you are aspiring, achieving, or just are a writer, this book is an excellent read. It gives off an aura of finality; this is the way it is, this is the way it should be. And for John Gardner, this is the way it was. He writes with a fluid motion, and never leads one to boredom. Sure, he says a writer could use some college courses. But he advocates the use of writer's workshops even more; a group of writers, whether in a university or not, to get together and slog through the process of constant revision. In the end, that's his advice; and that is the way it should be. Writer's don't need to have great education; Harvard doesn't produce more writer's then the rest of the country. Practice and the eyes of others help more then anything. This book helps some, too.
Rating: 
Summary: beware ...
Review: If you aren't well-versed in the Canon of Great Literature, then most all of the author's references -- and perhaps a good deal of what he has to say -- will be lost on you. There are a number of good, clearly stated ideas in this book, but after wading through three quarters of it, I have to say that there must be a better way. To wit, probably better than half of them can be had by reading the previous reviews and any one of a number of internet pages that address the common mistakes of beginning writers. If my knowledge of literature was as complete as Gardner assumes his readers' to be, I wouldn't need to read a book about writing ... Perhaps that's a good bit of Gardner's point, but I paid money for a book about how to write, not for a reading list. I'll be moving on to Burroway's "Writing Fiction" before I subject myself to the remainder of this snobbish morass. Esthetes only; mortals beware.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult, Demanding Text on Writing
Review: If you're a beginning fiction writer, odds are that this book will be too difficult for you. Don't be misled by the glowing reviews. Sure, Gardner knows more about writing than most of us ever will. But his philosophical discussions and frequent allusions to classic literature make this book suitable only for the best of students. Browse it in the library before you plunk down your money.
Rating:
Summary: Written for Writers of Literature, not Junk
Review: It is true that this book should perhaps not have been entitled, "Notes on Craft for Young Writers." There is meat enough here to engage the full intellectual appetite of a professor of literary criticism. On the other hand, there's also a lot for the young and inexperienced by way of direction. If the instruction is sometimes abstract, it always points a direction by example and suggested reading. I don't think Gardner is a literary "snob". He is straightforward at the beginning about his target audience. It doesn't include pornographers, but he gives several examples of his precepts from many other genres, including science fiction. I suppose there are books out there for pornographers if they need them. Gardner is trying to nurture the next Dostoyevski.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect.
Review: It was recommended to me by an excellent writer. It has been praised in my presensce by many professional writers. It is referred to as the Writer's Bible. It is perfect.
Rating:
Summary: if this book turns you off
Review: it's probably because you recognize your own mistakes derailed within its pages. The chapters common errors and technique should be every beginning writers bible. i've heard some criticism of the book saying john gardner is an egomaniac name dropper, but if you aren't willing to wade through a little ego mania and name dropping to understand gardner's ultimatly correct observations on fiction then you'll never be able to make it as a writer. you'll never make it through an m.f.a. or doctorate program, and you'll certainly never realize you own mistakes. i found the examples helpful and plentiful, the advice sound, and the humor (though for critics of the book it may have gone over their heads) beautifully crafted. a fabulous and worthy addition to any library.
Rating:
Summary: On-the-level advice for aspiring fiction writers
Review: John Gardner has created an excellent resource for aspiring fiction writers who want to know how to write well. Gardner is direct in his tone, providing his readers with upfront and honest advice about what makes good fiction writing.
Gardner describes fiction as a dream world into which the writer takes the reader. His ultimate advice is to always consider the flow of the dream, and to be wary of any pitfall that might awake the reader from the story. He discusses such issues as style, grammar, plotting, and how they are necessary and contribute to excellent fiction writing.
The book closes with a series of exercises, a set for groups and a set for individuals, that provide an excellent jumping point for developing the superior writing skills that Gardner tries to teach.
Gardner's ideas are important considerations for the beginning writer, and important refreshers for the established writer. If you want to learn how to write fiction, but only want to buy one book on how to write, this is the one.
Rating: 
Summary: Intimidating but Useful
Review: John Gardner, I imagine, was a man who buttoned his shirts to the top. If he was a father, he would have been cold, stern, aloof, and a strict disciplinarian. He must have been a fierce little man. His words are as dry as the white page they're printed on. He lectures mainly with reason and abstraction. Writing, he says, should be approached with the "utmost seriousness." His tone is not encouraging; on the contrary, it is often daunting, threatening the reader with the occasional possibility that he or she may not have what it takes to be a writer. Still here? Good. Because for all of the forceful rigidity that Gardner impresses upon the reader, he has a reason for it. He has tremendous respect for the art of fiction, and he's taking your interest in the art seriously. That is, he is going to tell you what it takes to be a writer, in the highest sense of the word. While some of the principles in this book were just too abstract for me to be useful, many of the ideas put forth were helpful and gave me new perspective on what it means to write fiction. The writing exercises in the back are (as expected) exceedingly challenging; and yet I suspect they may be exceedingly helpful as well, if I'm ever up to pressing through them. Although Gardner feels comfortable calling his book, "the most helpful of its kind," I don't recommend this as a first book on fiction writing. Something encouraging like Bradbury's "Zen in the Art of Writing," or fundamental like Burroway's "Writing Fiction" will serve that purpose much better. I do recommend this book as a set of essays that will help you in your continuing struggle to learn what it means to write (and then to write) true literature.
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