Reading, writing, and leaving home

Author(s)

Lynn Freed

Description

Equal Parts revelation and inspiration, these eleven essays combine a memoir of an exotic life, reflections on the art and craft of writing, and a brilliant examination of the always complex relationship between fiction and life. In "Taming the Gorgon" an account of translating a difficult mother into fiction becomes a poignant and hilarious meditation on the intricate knot binding mothers and daughters. In "Sex with the Servants" the story of a scandal created by publication becomes a brilliant inquiry into the porous boundary between private truth and public betrayal. Whether examining the difference between a story told and a story written or describing the trials and rigors of teaching writing to pay the rent, Freed surprises, instructs, and entertains.

Other 2005 works