Publishing
A Writer's Memoir
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- $349.00
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- $349.00
Descripción editorial
From three-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Gail Godwin, a vibrant portrait of her writing and publishing life.
'You don't have to be a hungry writer or an aspiring editor to appreciate Publishing' New York Times Book Review
'This is delightful reading' Boston Globe
Publishing is a personal story of a writer's hunger to be published, the pursuit of that goal, and then the long haul--for Gail Godwin, forty-five years of being a published writer and all that goes with it.
A student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1958, Godwin met with Knopf scouts who came to campus every spring in search of new talent. Though her five pages of Windy Peaks were turned down and the novel never completed, she would go on to publish two story collections and fourteen novels, three of which were National Book Award finalists, five of which were New York Times bestsellers.
Publishing reflects on the influence of her mother's writing hopes and accomplishments, and recalls Godwin's experiences with teachers Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Coover at the Iowa Writers' Workshop; with John Hawkins, her literary agent for five decades; with John Irving and other luminaries; and with her editors and publishers. Recollecting her long and storied career, Godwin maps the publishing industry over the last fifty years, a time of great upheaval and ingenuity.
Her eloquent memoir is illuminated by Frances Halsband's evocative black-and-white line drawings throughout. There have been memoirs about writing and memoirs about being an editor, but there is no other book quite like Publishing for aspiring writers and book lovers everywhere.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Novelist Godwin (Flora) traces the trajectory of her career in this memoir, revealing the personal and professional stamina it takes to succeed as a writer in the modern publishing industry. Godwin begins with her college days and retells the story of her first (rejected) submission to Knopf. She goes on to recount her tumultuous experiences with publishers, such as being forced to cut 10,000 words or realizing that the novel she just wrote is unpublishable. Bibliophiles will be delighted to hear about her education with Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Coover, both teachers of hers at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, as well as her friendship with novelist John Irving and, most endearing, her 50-year working relationship with John Hawkins, her literary agent. Godwin's chronicle is often informative but can at times feel self-indulgent the result of a surfeit of anecdotes. Still, this book succeeds at giving an eye-opening look at the reality of what it takes to publish just one novel or, in Godwin's case, 14.
