Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
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Soul at the White Heat: Inspiration, Obsession, and the Writing LifeHardcover – September 20, 2016 by
From the Publisher.
A new collection of critical and personal essays on writing, obsession, and inspiration from National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates.
“Why do we write?”
With this question, Joyce Carol Oates begins an imaginative exploration of the writing life, and all its attendant anxieties, joys, and futilities, in this collection of seminal essays and criticism. Leading her quest is a desire to understand the source of the writer’s inspiration—do subjects haunt those that might bring them back to life until the writer submits? Or does something “happen” to us, a sudden ignition of a burning flame? Can the appearance of a muse-like Other bring about a writer’s best work?
In Soul at the White Heat, Oates deploys her keenest critical faculties, conjuring contemporary and past voices whose work she deftly and creatively dissects for clues to these elusive questions. Virginia Woolf, John Updike, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, J. M. Coetzee, Margaret Atwood, Joan Didion, Zadie Smith, and many others appear as predecessors and peers—material through which Oates sifts in acting as literary detective, philosopher, and student. The book is at its most thrilling when watching the writer herself at work, and Oates provides rare insight into her own process, in candid, self-aware dispatches from the author’s own writing room. The New York Times Book Review has raved, “who better than Joyce Carol Oates . . . to explicate the craft of writing?” Longtime admirers of Joyce Carol Oates’s novels as well as her prose will discover much to be inspired by and obsess upon themselves in this inventive collection from an American master.
Why I’m Waiting. Joyce Carol Oates’ fiction is often hit or miss for me but her non-fiction, especially on writing is always interesting. What better subject to wait to write about than a writer’s book on writing? Say that fast five times!
Renee said:
Hope you enjoy this one!
Renee My WOW
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Hfineisen said:
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your WOW. Enjoy!
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Diane Coto said:
Grateful for any writing tips. There’s a book in me somewhere dying to get out. 🙂
@dino0726 from
FictionZeal – Impartial, Straightforward Fiction Book Reviews
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Hfineisen said:
I would love to read it!
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Bonnie @ For the Love of Words said:
Joyce Carol Oates is quite the prolific author yet I haven’t had the opportunity to read any of her works yet. I actually had no idea she had written non-fiction so I will have to find some NF of hers. Thanks for sharing for stopping by!
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Hfineisen said:
I find her non-fiction more consistent than her fiction. Enjoy!
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cleopatralovesbooks said:
I find her fiction hit or miss too and I’m now quite wary when picking up one of her books to read but I’ve not read any of her non-fiction. As you say a book about writing sounds fairly irresistible.
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Hfineisen said:
I have found her non-fiction pretty solid and I enjoy her book reviews so I’m hoping this one hits the mark.
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AngelErin said:
I’ve never read anything by this author before. I really should. I hope you like this one! 🙂
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Hfineisen said:
I hope so, too! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading!
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sydneyeditor1 said:
I haven’t read Oates before, but I didn’t know she wrote non-fiction — this sounds like it’s going to give some great insight into her writing and the art of writing, if that makes sense?
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Hfineisen said:
That makes perfect sense. I think it will. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a thoughtful comment.
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Candid Cover said:
This book does sound like an interesting concept! It is almost like all of her writing secrets will be dispelled. I hope that you enjoy this one!
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Hfineisen said:
I think it should be insightful at the very least. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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Carole Wooten (Carole's Random Life) said:
I don’t think that I have read Joyce Carol Oates before but I have seen her books around for a while. I hope you love this once you get a chance to read it. Great pick!
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Hfineisen said:
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Happy Reading!
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readsinthefamily said:
Oh, good choice! I tend to prefer her prose over her novels most of the time as well and can imagine this will be a great read.
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Hfineisen said:
Oh, good! I’m glad you found something you liked. Happy Reading!
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