Pity the Reader

On Writing with Style

The art and craft of writing by one of the few grandmasters of American literature, a bonanza for writers and listeners written by Kurt Vonnegut's former student.  

Here is an entirely new side of Kurt Vonnegut, Vonnegut as a teacher of writing. Of course he's given us glimpses before, with aphorisms and short essays and articles and in his speeches. But never before has an entire book been devoted to Kurt Vonnegut the teacher. Here is pretty much everything Vonnegut ever said or wrote having to do with the writing art and craft, altogether a healing, a nourishing expedition. McConnell has outfitted us for the journey, and in these 37 chapters covers the waterfront of how one American writer brought himself to the pinnacle of the writing art, and we can all benefit as a result.  

Kurt Vonnegut was one of the few grandmasters of American literature, whose novels continue to influence new generations about the ways in which our imaginations can help us to live. Few aspects of his contribution have not been plumbed - 14 novels, collections of his speeches, his essays, his letters, his plays - so this fresh view of him, written by a former student, is a bonanza for writers and listeners and Vonnegut fans everywhere.

©2019 Trust u/w of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Loved it!

Great advice and encouragement for writers. Write because you love it, be happy with what you've created for you have created something that no one else on the earth could.

Brilliant

Valuable insights to an important writer, and well narrated . And here is the 15 words minimum …. So much for brevity

Annoying narrator

This information might have been useful but I had to stop halfway through because the narrator was making my skin crawl with their over stylized way of speaking.

Overall pretty nice and full of useful tips

Overall pretty nice and full of useful tips on writing – now I really want to dig more into Vonnegut's books as well – but it was so hard to listen to. Painfully hard and I applaud everyone who made it to the end of the book.

Learning through story telling

There are plenty of good tips for writers in here, and many of them come to you through the stories of Kurt's life and the author's life, as she learned from Kurt. It's about how writing is a way of life, a way to express yourself and work through the details and plot lines of your own life. To do that, the author demonstrates the lessons, and how they played out in the life and times of Kurt Vonnegut. I took some notes, but much of was just absorbed through listening.