Cigar Boxes

“Writing the Novel” Lawrence Block

• William Estep
• Club reading

Lawrence Block is certainly a very successful writer. He currently has178 books listed on Amazon.com. The introduction starts with Mr. Blocktelling us why he wrote this book:

This is a book designed to help you write a novel. It contains thedistillation of my own experience of twenty years as a publishednovelist, plus a considerable amount that I’ve learned from otherwriters. My goal throughout has been to produce the sort of book Imight have found useful when I set out to write my own first novel.

And he does just that. This is a very entertaining and insightful book.Mr. Block shares many experiences with us as well as much hard learnedknowledge. The opening paragraphs sum up these thoughts:

Dance in the Rain

• William Estep
• Qotd

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.

Vivian Greene

"The Body Myth: Adult Women and the Pressure to be Perfect" by Margo Maine, Joe Kelly

• William Estep
• Club reading

Reviewer: Linda

While this is not the most well-written book I have read, it is thought provoking. Aimed generally at eating disorders that cause women to starve themselves (anorexia or bingeing and purging) it has some applicability to anyone with an eating disorder. The book concentrates mostly on the media and the “body myth” from there, i.e., all women should look like teenager boys but with big boobs.