Rating: 
Summary: Practical writing book for the next century!
Review: In the future, when I'm asked which is the most important book I've ever read, without doubt I'll answer "The First Five Pages". It's incredible how this little book - only 209 pages! - can show you, with such sincerity, the clues to uncover bad writing, specially when we think we are masters of the craft. I'm happy that at last someone took the TIME to tell me - indirectly - why my manuscripts keep getting rejected, and moreover, how to correct this situation. Highly recommendable!
Rating: 
Summary: good basic advice
Review: For anyone going through the thrill and terror of submitting work for publication for the first time, this book should be a must read. Mr. Lukeman gives you the most important basic rules to follow to get your work noticed, represented and published. As he is also a very reputable literary agent, he knows of what he speaks! Get the book and get to work!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK--"Northwest" review is spurned writer.
Review: THE FIRST FIVE PAGES is one of the best books on writing I've ever read. Don't be swayed by the review from the "Northwest", which is not only wrong, but factually incorrect. He says the "whole first two thirds of the book are devoted to pointers like don't have misspellings or draw on your manuscript," which is completely untrue. Those two topics are never even raised in the book. He claims the book has "no specifics and finer distinctions about what distinguishes good writing from poor" - but this is exactly what the entire book is devoted to. In fact, there is an entire chapter devoted just to "Subtlety" and another chapter devoted to a subtle topic, "Tone." This guy sounds like a spurned writer to me. The First Five Pages is one of the best books on writing there is.
Rating:
Summary: After the First Draft
Review: This book is fabulous! Lukeman gives us an inside look on polishing the ms before sending it out to agents or publishers. He gives advice on how to notice and remedy the overuse of adjectives and adverbs. Followed by sseveral sections on what types of literary tools separate the 'men from the boys' in writing great fiction. He covers: symbolism, comparisons, picking the perfect word, slimming down your prose and leaving some to the reader's imagination. I would recommend to wait on this book, though, until you have a first draft to work with. Reading this before finishing your first draft could cause you to freeze up by giving your internal editor to much ammo.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for Beginners Only, 2 Stars for Pros
Review: This is an excellent book for those who are just beginning to write, but for anyone who has been around a while, who has tested the market and studied its requirements, there's nothing new here.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't teach much about writing
Review: If you know much about writing at all--if you've taken courses or published anything or read other good books-- this book probably won't be very useful to you. I was attracted by the title and the fact that it was written by an agent but got very little from it on WRITING--the most interesting aspect was that it was an agent's point of view and it told something about why manuscripts are rejected, but it was mostly obvious stuff I already knew. The whole first two-thirds of the book have pointers like don't have misspellings or a messy manuscript or use too many adverbs or draw on your manuscript or write grammatically incorrect sentences that are hard to follow. As other reviewers have noted, the examples are often blatant and laughable: they illustrate the obvious about melodrama and boring dialogue, for example--like, who wouldn't know, "I can't pay the rent. You must pay the rent" should be avoided? What I, as a writer, need is more specifics and finer distinctions about what distinguishes good writing from poor,--more substance-- and this book taught me very little about that. Far better is SELF EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS, by two professional editors who understand good writing and know how to give pointers and lessons on how to achieve it, or HOW TO WRITE A DAMN GOOD NOVEL, for an understanding on structure and drama vs. melodrama, or NARRATIVE FICTION, a classic textbook used in colleges around the country. I notice most the reviewers here who liked the book seem to be non-writers--i.e. the lawyer fraternity brother--or beginners who need to know to double space, use one-inch margins, and not write dialogue that is hard to follow. Unless you fall into one of those groups, you might be better off with another text.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Lukeman's book is well worth the price. As a novice writer, I've had people criticize my work, but they couldn't tell me anything useful for improving it. Whether you're writing for fun or for profit, Lukeman's book will be the greatest investment you have ever made. He shows you things you may never have considered before; all in a brief, yet practical text.
Rating:
Summary: Sneakier examples would have made this perfect
Review: I found this book very helpful, it was certainly enlightening to read an editor's point of view, but the examples he used to illustrate his points were so blatant they often sounded childish. I know the intent was to ensure his points were understood fully by the reader, but an obvious example followed by one or two of a more subtle tone would have been a greater help to me. Novice writers may see thier pet mistakes staring back at them on each page (accompanied with solid advise on defeating them) but I think many writers working seriously for any length of time have learned to integrate their habitual bad habits with a lighter touch than his examples suggest--not that this makes them any less of a problem, but it does make them harder to spot and extract. That said, I still feel this book should be read by everyone who writes or wants to.
Rating:
Summary: A must for writers and readers alike
Review: If you're looking for a book about how to write, you might start with The First Five Pages. I loved this book. In fact, I couldn't put it down; something one would normally expect with a work of fiction. I particularly enjoyed the passages Lukeman used to illustrate points of bad writing followed by examples of selected masters to show great writing. Illuminating. The section on dialogue made me realize that I had been taught to write badly in school. This is a kind of book that all writers (and readers) should have. It doesn't preach, it doesn't pompously expound, rather it advises, analyzes and helps the writer get more invovled in the process of writing. I will never read fiction in quite the same way again.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable
Review: I completely disagree with the Iowa reviewer -- this book provides the most methodical approach to self-editing I have ever encountered. END
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