How to Write: Advice and Reflections

Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for "Writing 101" this isn't it..
Review: However, if you're looking for a book full of knowledge (such as a theory that once a creative person exhausts they're creativity they perish) anchectdotes that bring the life of a writer to your eyes, and if you're looking for advice on writing (includeding a little deep how to) Then this is your book. The only problems are that the title is misleading and the author does seem to have a condisending, belittling tone that may make him sound like he's brag while realating some of his stories. It's still well worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: A Waste Of Time Unless You Enjoy Hearing Someone Brag
Review: I felt cheated after getting half-way through this book,which I will not bother finish! It seems as if the author simply wants to talk about himself and his works, not give information on "How To Write".

Rating:
Summary: Self-Referential in the Very Best Sense
Review: Look, when we read a book; how it dovetails with our immediate needs and interests, all very much affects how we rate it. With that caveat, I will say that those who describe Rhodes' as self-advertizing, by my lights, get it all wrong. In this wonderfully helpful book, which covers not only writing but the pain of publishing too, Rhodes uses his own vast experiences to help others, not to pat himself on the back. Anyone who reads it that way, I believe, is mistaken (or in the wrong mood). I found this book up there with Anne Lamott, Betsy Lerner and on the fact of publisher's mentality towards writers, utterly unique, right on target. He also gives a ton of useful tips from one who had ups and downs as a writer before winning the Pulizer prize. I prize this book. It crossed my life and came to inform my writing self at the right time, and is helpful as few other self-help books for writers are. Again, all reviews are subjective but those who think he's not delivering the goods, or not our to really help other writers have got it backwards. It takes courage and grit to go out on a limb, using oneself to let others see clearly. Do buy this if you are : a writer having any sort of problem. Richard Rhodes Knows.