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Light the dark : writers on creativity, inspiration, and the artistic process / edited by Joe Fassler ; illustrations by Doug McLean.

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Penguin Books, [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Description: xiii, 334 pages : illustrations ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780143130840 (paperback)
  • 0143130846 (paperback)
Subject(s):
Contents:
Preface / Joe Fassler -- Light the dark / Aimee Bender -- Leaving the reservation of the mind / Sherman Alexie -- In praise of stubborn gladness / Elizabeth Gilbert -- You've been here before / Stephen King -- Pixel by pixel / Amy Tan -- A friend of the mind / Junot Díaz -- The handshake / William Gibson -- Everything I meant to say / Khaled Hosseini -- Do not think, dream / Andre Dubus III -- I don't know you anymore / Mary Gaitskill -- To infinity and beyond / Michael Chabon -- How I awoke / Walter Mosley -- Stealing plums and counting stones / Jim Crace -- All immigrants are artists / Edwidge Danticat -- Into the deep heart's core / Billy Collins -- Please stop thinking / Kathryn Harrison -- Neglect everything else / David Mitchell -- Dreaming in drag / Roxane Gay -- Ordinary people / Tom Perrotta -- Against unreality / Ayana Mathis -- No one ever changes / Jim Shepard -- Lose yourself / Karl Ove Knausgaard -- On commonness / Leslie Jamison -- Letting the leopards in / Jonathan Lethem -- The edge of sense / Jesse Ball -- A place to call my own / Angela Flournoy -- Into the wardrobe, into the self / Lev Grossman -- Strangers on a train / Yiyun Li -- Time passes / Maggie Shipstead -- Translating the subconscious / Jeff Tweedy -- The long game / Nell Zink -- Lifting the blanket / Charles Simic -- Follow this voice / Viet Thanh Nguyen -- You and me / Emma Donoghue -- Words on paper will outlast us / Claire Messud -- Nobody asked you to write that novel / Jane Smiley -- My favorite curmudgeon / Jonathan Franzen -- Writing for right now / Hanya Yanagihara -- Recommended dosage / Ben Marcus -- Music for misfits / Mark Haddon -- Enough about me / Azar Nafisi -- How stories say goodbye / T.C. Boyle -- Rehearsals for death / Ethan Canin -- Happy accidents / Eileen Myles -- the brain is larger than the sea / Marilynne Robinson -- Random joy / Neil Gaiman.
Summary: "What inspires you? That's the simple, but profound question more than forty renowned authors answer in LIGHT THE DARK. Each author picks a favorite passage--from a novel, a song, a poem--to reveal what gets them started and keeps them going doing the creative work they love. From there, incredible stories of life changing encounters with art emerge, like how sneaking a volume of Stephen King stories into his job as a night security guard helped Khaled Hosseini learn that nothing he creates will ever be truly finished. Or how discovering Toni Morrison's Beloved in college taught Junot Díaz how art can create communities of shared experience. Here is a stunning guide to creative living and writing in the vein of Bird by Bird, Big Magic, and Daily Rituals for anyone who wants to learn how great writers find inspiration and how to find some of your own. Writer Joe Fassler has been collecting these lessons in his beloved "By Heart" series for The Atlantic, spinning conversations with hundreds of authors into motivating essays paired with striking illustrations. Light the Dark collects the best of "By Heart" and adds brand new pieces from award-winning writers like Marilynne Robinson, Junot Diaz, and Neil Gaiman"-- Provided by publisher.
List(s) this item appears in: NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 153.35 L723 Available 33111008823342
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A stunning masterclass on the creative process, the craft of writing, and the art of finding inspiration from Stephen King, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amy Tan, Khaled Hosseini, Roxane Gay, Neil Gaiman, and more of the most acclaimed writers at work today

"For artists in need of a creative fix, Light the Dark is as good as a visit from the divine muse." - Bookpage

What inspires you? That's the simple, but profound question posed to forty-six renowned authors in LIGHT THE DARK. Each writer begins with a favorite passage from a novel, a song, a poem-something that gets them started and keeps them going with the creative work they love. From there, incredible lessons and stories of life-changing encounters with art emerge, like how sneaking books into his job as a night security guard helped Khaled Hosseini learn that nothing he creates will ever be truly finished. Or how a college reading assignment taught Junot Diaz that great art can be a healing conversation, and an unexpected poet led Elizabeth Gilbert to embrace an unyielding optimism, even in the face of darkness. LIGHT THE DARK collects the best of The Atlantic 's much-acclaimed "By Heart" series edited by Joe Fassler and adds brand new pieces, each one paired with a striking illustration. Here is a guide to creative living and writing in the vein of Daily Rituals , Bird by Bird , Draft No. 4 , and Big Magic for anyone who wants to learn how great writers find inspiration-and to find some of your own.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS- Elizabeth Gilbert, Junot Diaz, Marilynne Robinson, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, Aimee Bender, Mary Gaitskill, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman,Roxane Gay, Angela Flournoy, Jonathan Franzen,Yiyun Li, Leslie Jamison, Claire Messud, Edwidge Danticat, David Mitchell, Khaled Hosseini, Ayana Mathis, Kathryn Harrison, Azar Nafisi, Hanya Yanagihara, Jane Smiley, Nell Zink, Emma Donoghue, Jeff Tweedy, Eileen Myles, Maggie Shipstead, Sherman Alexie, Andre Dubus III, Billy Collins, Lev Grossman, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Charles Simic, Jim Shepard, T.C. Boyle, Tom Perrotta, Viet Thanh Nguyen, William Gibson, Mark Haddon, Ethan Canin, Jesse Ball, Jim Crace, and Walter Mosley.

"As these authors reveal what inspires them, they, in turn, inspire the reader, all while celebrating the beauty and purpose of art." - Booklist

Preface / Joe Fassler -- Light the dark / Aimee Bender -- Leaving the reservation of the mind / Sherman Alexie -- In praise of stubborn gladness / Elizabeth Gilbert -- You've been here before / Stephen King -- Pixel by pixel / Amy Tan -- A friend of the mind / Junot Díaz -- The handshake / William Gibson -- Everything I meant to say / Khaled Hosseini -- Do not think, dream / Andre Dubus III -- I don't know you anymore / Mary Gaitskill -- To infinity and beyond / Michael Chabon -- How I awoke / Walter Mosley -- Stealing plums and counting stones / Jim Crace -- All immigrants are artists / Edwidge Danticat -- Into the deep heart's core / Billy Collins -- Please stop thinking / Kathryn Harrison -- Neglect everything else / David Mitchell -- Dreaming in drag / Roxane Gay -- Ordinary people / Tom Perrotta -- Against unreality / Ayana Mathis -- No one ever changes / Jim Shepard -- Lose yourself / Karl Ove Knausgaard -- On commonness / Leslie Jamison -- Letting the leopards in / Jonathan Lethem -- The edge of sense / Jesse Ball -- A place to call my own / Angela Flournoy -- Into the wardrobe, into the self / Lev Grossman -- Strangers on a train / Yiyun Li -- Time passes / Maggie Shipstead -- Translating the subconscious / Jeff Tweedy -- The long game / Nell Zink -- Lifting the blanket / Charles Simic -- Follow this voice / Viet Thanh Nguyen -- You and me / Emma Donoghue -- Words on paper will outlast us / Claire Messud -- Nobody asked you to write that novel / Jane Smiley -- My favorite curmudgeon / Jonathan Franzen -- Writing for right now / Hanya Yanagihara -- Recommended dosage / Ben Marcus -- Music for misfits / Mark Haddon -- Enough about me / Azar Nafisi -- How stories say goodbye / T.C. Boyle -- Rehearsals for death / Ethan Canin -- Happy accidents / Eileen Myles -- the brain is larger than the sea / Marilynne Robinson -- Random joy / Neil Gaiman.

"What inspires you? That's the simple, but profound question more than forty renowned authors answer in LIGHT THE DARK. Each author picks a favorite passage--from a novel, a song, a poem--to reveal what gets them started and keeps them going doing the creative work they love. From there, incredible stories of life changing encounters with art emerge, like how sneaking a volume of Stephen King stories into his job as a night security guard helped Khaled Hosseini learn that nothing he creates will ever be truly finished. Or how discovering Toni Morrison's Beloved in college taught Junot Díaz how art can create communities of shared experience. Here is a stunning guide to creative living and writing in the vein of Bird by Bird, Big Magic, and Daily Rituals for anyone who wants to learn how great writers find inspiration and how to find some of your own. Writer Joe Fassler has been collecting these lessons in his beloved "By Heart" series for The Atlantic, spinning conversations with hundreds of authors into motivating essays paired with striking illustrations. Light the Dark collects the best of "By Heart" and adds brand new pieces from award-winning writers like Marilynne Robinson, Junot Diaz, and Neil Gaiman"-- Provided by publisher.

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