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| A Self Made of Words
ISBN: 9781609382148
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / University of Iowa Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Self in literature.; Essay; Persona (Literature);
In writing, "an imprint of yourself is unavoidable, as surely as a fingerprint," argues Klaus (The Made-Up Self), founder of the University of Iowa's nonfiction writing program. His latest book is a practical guide for writers hoping to refine their nonfiction persona, which can change depending on subject matter, audience, and the tone the writer is hoping to convey. Deceptively simple, this slim volume offers numerous examples on subjects such as using point of view, continuity and discontinuity, periodic sentences, content, parallelism, and more. Klaus pulls a variety of examples from artists, such as Nora Ephron and Henry David Thoreau, which highlight choices of style, balance, and concrete and abstract diction. Divided into two sections-"Your Self in Writing" and "Elements of Writing and Your Self"-Klaus's suggestions and personas come across clearly, welcomingly and repeatedly, due to his concurrent participation in the exercises provided at the end of most chapters. The exercises ask the reader to work and rework pieces they produced in the first few exercises. Perhaps the most important lesson to be taken from the text, which also includes a suggested reading list, is the importance of practice, revision, and reflection. The book is a welcome addition to the nonfiction writer's resources. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Carl H. Klaus, founder of the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, is professor emeritus at Iowa and coeditor (with Patricia Hampl) of Sightline Books: The Iowa Series in Literary Nonfiction. His widely praised nonfiction includes The Made-Up Self: Impersonation in the Personal Essay (Iowa, 2010), Letters to Kate: Life after Life (Iowa, 2006), My Vegetable Love: A Journal of a Growing Season (Iowa, 2000) and its companion, Weathering Winter (Iowa, 1997), as well as Taking Retirement: A Beginner's Diary . His most recent nonfiction project (coedited with Ned Stuckey-French) is Essayists on the Essay: Montaigne to Our Time (Iowa, 2012) .
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