The Situation and the Story

The Art of Personal Narrative

By: Vivian Gornick

Narrated by: Vivian Gornick

All narrative writing must pull from the raw material of life a tale that will shape experience, transform event, deliver a bit of wisdom. In a story or a novel the "I" who tells this tale can be, and often is, an unreliable narrator, but in nonfiction the reader must always be persuaded that the narrator is speaking truth.

How does one pull from one's own boring, agitated self the truth-speaker who will tell the story a personal narrative needs to tell? That is the question The Situation and the Story asks—and answers. Taking us on a tour of some of the best memoirs and essays of the past hundred years, Gornick traces the changing idea of self that has dominated the century, and demonstrates the enduring truth-speaker to be found in the work of writers as diverse as Edmund Gosse, Joan Didion, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, or Marguerite Duras.

This book is itself a model of the lucid intelligence that has made Gornick one of our most admired writers of nonfiction. In it, she teaches us to write by teaching us how to read: how to recognize truth when we hear it in the writing of others and in our own.

©2001 Vivian Gornick (P)2022 Tantor

Insightful

This novel is a required craft book for my graduate program as I try to navigate writing my memoir. Gornick digs deep into essays and memoirs, gathering interpretation from what writers do and don’t say. She builds several examples through very moving or unmoving stories. She highlights what narrators miss and don’t miss in storytelling. She never loses sight of explaining what writers need to do in order to seek clarity and presenting that to the reader. Very interesting novel with good insightful examinations of nonfiction stories.

Dare I Say it Was Just Ok?

I really wanted to like this. I didn't. I really wanted to be helped by this. I wasn't. But because of the book's (and author's) reputation and my desire to improve my writing skills, I will read it again - not just on Audible and Kindle but perhaps even paperback. Hopefully, I'll come away with much more the next time.

Excellent

If you write, you should follow along (well, just listen to this book at least) and take notes and highlight areas the you know you need to work on in your own craft.

College English Lecture Disguised as a Craft Book

I wanted to love this book but found that it wasn’t what it’s being marketed as, which is a memoir/nonfiction craft book. Too little time talking about the situation and the story, which is a good thesis and intriguing. Examples feel dated and very “male.” Reminds me of those old timey lectures as an English major when the professor rambled on and on without any attention to audience, not noticing when the whole class is sound asleep.

Could have been better

The concept and subject matter are interesting, but the execution didn’t fully work for me. The audio quality made it difficult to stay engaged at times, and the narration felt distracting rather than immersive. While the style may appeal to some listeners, I found the delivery unclear and the promised insights less developed than expected. With clearer narration and stronger structure, this could have been much more compelling.