This book was discussed in a weekly newsletter I receive via email from
this awesome website. If you have a chance, you really should peruse the offerings there and support it. Anyway, I really do enjoy reading about writing and the process of writing. This book came to me at just the right time in my own writing life. I have an unfinished work that has about 25,000+ words so far. However, I haven't added to it in at least two months and I fear it is languishing into nonexistence. So to read this book where the author so accurately describes the inner turmoil of writing was refreshing for me. I can't really explain a synopsis here because the title is basically what the book is about. Anyone who has ever written will understand that the writing life can be filled with varied experiences and this book describes some of those experiences. I would only recommend this book if you are interested in writing or the psychological aspects of writing. I got the book from the library, but I enjoyed it so much that I'm contemplating adding it to my personal bookshelf. Below are a few quotes that I stood out to me for various reasons.
"People who read are not too lazy to flip on the television; they prefer books. I cannot imagine a sorrier pursuit than struggling for years to write a book that attempts to appeal to people who do not read in the first place."
"There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage is sweet. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading - that is a good life."
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
The last quote was the most profound for me right now as I observe my writing/reading life and my daily life merge.
