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Rating: 
Summary: A WRITERS' CONVERSATION
Review: Anything by Kurt Vonnegut is good! Well almost anything. I was attracted to this gem featuring two authors of different generations conversing about the meaning of writing in their lives. I expected an enlightening tome that would set my mind to thinking and provide me with new insight. Neither happened. Vonnegut and Stringer are good writers but these interviews just didn't come off well in print. A question is raised as to what the two writers had in common. Stringer gave some good points but Vonnegut rambled on into the wild blue yonder. Of the two, Stringer appeared to stay focused on the questions and provided the reader with insight as to how writing impacted on his life and freed him from his own internal demons. As a collector's item in your Vonnegut library, yes, do indeed purchase it. If you want something more in depth with Vonnegut and Stringer read their works. This text just doesn't get to the heart of their writing world.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: Every English major has one writer who is responsible for their journey into the field. I have two: Muriel Spark and Kurt Vonnegut. I am not the kind of guy who walks around pretending to be a writer; I am no writer. I do, however, love to read about what makes writers tick, what inspires them to write. This is one of the reasons I picked up this tiny book--I hoped it would give me some insight. I didn't. The conversations, at times, are interesting. But it wasn't worth the cash I shelled out for the 79 pages. If this had of appeared in a magazine, I would have read it and not whined. If this had appeared in a magazine, I wouldn't have wasted over 10 bucks.
Rating: 
Summary: Slight book full of heavy thoughts about writing
Review: In this slight volume (only 46 actual pages of transcribed talk), Vonnegut, the novelist, and Stringer, who wrote a book of memoir essays, carry on an enthusiastic conversation about why and how they write. This seems one of those brief dips into the psyche of very good authors that can be so motivating to all of us at various stages of our careers, no matter what we write or aspire to write. Vonnegut and Stringer are both passsionate about their work. The latter tells of how he realized he could write by describing his first extended flow experience, when he decided to use his pencil, which he otherwise normally used as a drug implement (to push screens into his pipe) to write. After five hours of nonstop focus, he realized this was something, besides seeking drug highs, that he could really do well. They both talk about the primary importance of answering the big questions for themselves in their writing, and how publishing the results is almost an afterthought. Reminding us that even nonfiction authors write to find out where we're going, Stringer says, "I had a lot of fun trying to figure out how I was going to fill up these pages, and then, convinced that I'm not going to figure it out, bingo! something happens. It's like shaking hands with God." There may not be a lot to read here, but it's on target and REAL. Susan K. Perry, author of the bestselling WRITING IN FLOW
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