Customer Reviews (49)

Annie Dilliard, The Writing Life... Very Powerful!
This book was given to me many years ago, when I lived in Greenwich Village, but a very wise and beautiful young woman. By the time I finished the book, two things were clear... My life was transformed, and the gift giver cared about me and understood me. Great book, highly recommended, and most importantly, should not be limited to those who want to consider becoming writers. This book speaks more of life than of literature. My respect for Annie Dilliard is immense, and my recollections from this book are everlasting..

I want my Annie Dillard books on my Kindle so I can re-read repeatedly!
I have read, studied, underlined and written about Annie Dillard in school and to friends.It has been a few years, however, since I have read them.I can walk 20 steps from where I am sitting and typing, pick up any of her books in hard-copy.All of them were stimulating and thought provoking.

But what I REALLY want to do is to transfer them to my Kindle so I can re-read them while I travel.I especially want to carry "A Writer's Life."But, at $10 per book, I cannot do so.Phooey.

Not for EVERYONE
Too often, an aspiring writer becomes discouraged when he or she finds it difficult to produce admirable prose. Annie Dillard's "The Writing Life" is encouraging in that she reminds us that even for our finest living writers--of whom she is one--writing is a difficult, often torturous task. In a telling passage, Dillard writes, "If you ask a 21-year-old poet whose poetry he likes, he might say, unblushing,'Nobody's.' He has not yet understood that poets like poetry, and novelists like novels; he himself likes only the role, the thought of himself in a hat." Some of us are at first drawn to writing by the romantic allure of being known as "a writer." We fancy ourselves looking fine in that hat.Then, when we hit the wall of hard, grueling work, we are tempted to bow out. Dillard's book gives me a second wind. Platitudinous as it sounds, she states with conviction, "No one ever said it would be easy."Furthermore, this book takes the reader on a tour of the interior struggles that an honest writer must endure; and Dillard masterfully describes these struggles. I'm guessing that the reviewers who did not like this book are those who want no more than to wear the hat. They want the instructions as to how to put the hat on and keep it there.However, for those who are serious about enduring the pains and frustrations necessary for digging into their own souls to find a real story, this book is a gem, a testimony from a fellow struggler who candy-coats nothing, who tells it like it is, and who still gives witness to the beauty one finds when one is willing to work....hard.

i love it
this book was in excellent condition just as stated. it actually came a few days earlier than originally stated. i would reccommend this seller.

Since when?
I've made the mistake of reading a couple of her books. She had nothing worthwhile 2 say. Now she has the audacity to write a book on writing? Maybe she should read it herself. Better still, read David Gerrold's book on writing.
JD ... Read more