Three Genres: The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama (7th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Parts Worth Using, particularly for poetry
Review: I find that this text provides a better discussion of poetry than Janet Burroway's recent creative writing book, though her text is stronger in its discussion of fiction. While I don't agree with everything Minot says about writing (he can be too simplistic and authoritative in ways that could limit writers' expression and experimentation), and I don't like his selection of poems or stories very much, I use his book as simply one more resource for students. He offers another voice besides my own, and the class can dispute or agree with his comments if we so desire. The poetry chapters I've found most helpful are "Images," "The Sound of Words," and "Traditional Rhythms." I've also used parts of his fiction discussion. I supplement the book with many handouts (mostly poems) and some excerpts from Steve Kowit's In the Palm of Your Hand and Dorianne Laux/Kim Addonizio's The Poet's Companion. I use Burroway's text primarily for the fiction unit, and I also use parts of Jerome Stern's Making Shapely Fiction.

Rating:
Summary: For this market, try another book
Review: I had fond memories of this book from years ago, so I used it for my creative writing class. I was surprised, upon revisiting it, to find out how little it offers in the way of actual terminology, which is pretty important information when you want to talk about parts of poems or parts of fiction. If the parts don't have names, it's hard to have specific conversations about pieces of writing. Also, I and my class were turned off by the long lists of what NOT to do. My students found this to be somewhat patronizing and definitely an introduction to writer's block as that list of negatives rang its little list of 'not' in their ears. Further, Minot places a lot of emphasis on writing about family and the relationships therein. Most writers know that relying on the familiar is not always a good idea, as it can result in the trite, the sentimental, or the overly dramatic. It takes a long time to learn how to control the elements of the familiar to make it "fiction" that can be talked about with others, so this does not seem a good approach for beginning writers. Minot does not seem to like writing as an exploration of writing. He seems to favor it more as a means of exploring personal relationships. He does present many good ideas in the book, but they are good in the way that most obvious information is good--great to have, but irritating to receive.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible resource
Review: This book is very limited in its helpfulness. The title is very misleading, because Minot only knows what he's talking about in one of them. He should not even have attempted to touch drama. I wonder if he's ever even seen a play, as his attempts to instruct are completely off. Minot also focuses heavily on "don't do" lists rather than the instruction of helpful insight. In three words: the book blows.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resourc
Review: Three Genres is an excellent resource for beginning to intermediate creative writing students. It gives them the terminology they need to discuss written works and also includes many excellent examples in each genre. The book also includes some writing exercises, but the book is more of a scholarly resource. I've used it in my creative writing classes at the college level, and I haven't had the problems that other users describe regarding the "Don't do" lists. I rather like those. They help students avoid some of the pitfalls of beginning writers.