Tracy Kidder is a prize-winning and (justly) acclaimed writer of long-form non-fiction like [Soul of a New Machine], [Among Schoolchildren], and [Mountains Beyond Mountains]; Richard Todd is his longtime editor and friend. This book, a collaboration between them where their voices are sometimes made distinct and sometimes merged, is part joint memoir, part reflection on the nature of (some forms of) nonfiction, and part style guide.

There are interesting elements in this book: The glimpse inside the workings of The Atlantic Monthly back in the day were fascinating, the chapter titled "Beyond Accuracy" was thought-provoking, and the discussion of the relationship between "Art and Commerce" contained some gems . . . including A. J. Liebling's quote: "I can write better than everyone who can write faster, and I can write faster than everyone who can write better."

There are also elements that made me roll my eyes: The Atlantic Monthly reminiscences are fascinating as history but belong to an age so far removed from ours that they feel like a dead-end as insight into writing today, and "Rewrite!" is important, but hardly revelatory, advice to give any remotely experienced writer. The sections on style are particularly frustrating, since Kidder and Todd are more interested in deploring things than they are at suggesting alternatives.

The book's biggest problem, though, was that it ultimately felt like less than the sum of its parts. There is no clear through line, and the title and subtitle on the cover (Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction) is, in the end, a far less accurate description of what's inside than the sub-subtitle just below: "Stories and advice from a lifetime of writing and editing." Go in with lower expectations than I did, and you'll probably enjoy it more. ( )

Much like Stephen King's On Writing, this book falls into the part memoir/writing remembrances/good advice category.

It's not a "how-to write nonfiction" book, but more a "here's the lessons we've learned over the past four decades" book.

It's an excellent book, and deserves to be shelved right beside King's. ( )

First four chapters are indispensable. The rest are common knowledge to most experienced writers. ( )

Well written prose on writing prose, the main thing I took away from reading this is that an author needs a good editor, and an editor must need a whole lot of patience. Aside from the writing advice alot of other non-fiction authors are mentioned along with some interesting books I plan to look for. ( )

Good information about writing non-fiction from both an author and an editor standpoint. ( )

This sadly seemed like a story of days gone by, days when publishers would travel town to town asking if anyone had a book in their closet, and some random person would pull out a box with an international blockbuster. In this case, days when writers had a personal relationship with their editor. Days when there actually were editors.

I found it all very interesting. It is a rather intimate look at a friendship and professional relationship. If I were casting it, it would have to be Jimmy Stewart and June Allison (hey! this is my fantasy). No one today would have a glimmer of what Todd and Kidder have lived through. ( )

Kidder and Todd but together a book about writing non-fiction. It goes over several types of non-fiction although I am not sure if the division is needed as some of the advice is capable of being used for any form of non-fiction or even fiction. I've read better. I've read worse. ( )

Brief Summary: Two friends, a writer and his editor, talk about what makes good writing, and in doing so they present an intimate view into why writers love what they do.

The Tsundoku Scale: Top of the Pile, 9 out of 10.

The Good:
This is not a book I would have ever chosen without a recommendation, but it is a book I am truly grateful to have read. Good Prose is the first true conversation I have ever seen in book form. It flows, like a conversation between two old friends that begins at one point and slowly climbs the mountain of connected ideas to end at another higher point where one can survey the land that they have climbed, and shake their head in amazement at how they’ve gotten so far. The book begins as a book supposedly on style and grammar, but it ends up being part essay/memoir, using “good prose” to take a deeper look into the writer’s connection to writing. I love the candid, funny stories that sprout throughout the narrative from how Tracy Kidder once spent almost half a year writing one newspaper article because The Atlantic thought it was too terrible to publish, to how Kidder and Richard Todd have a ritual of reading the entire almost complete book as part of their editing process. This is not in anyways a grammar lesson (although you do learn a lot about grammar); this is a memoir on writing and I have never enjoyed more learning how to write, or more exactly (as the book truly seems to be getting at), learning how to see the inner joy in writing.

The Bad:
I absolutely loved this book, and it certainly connected with me, but I am not really sure how much it’s really a book. This is the kind of book one can only write when one’s been established, and all the rules of what kind of book sells goes out the window. Good Prose goes from grammar rules, to essays on writing style, to memoirs without much order that I can see—and while, as I said before, it grows like a conversation (which I enjoyed), it may be difficult or frustrating for some to read. Also, it is often unclear whether it is Kidder or Todd that is speaking at certain points in the book, which makes it harder to truly appreciate each’s own unique character. The one part that I really did not like in the book, however, was that it went to a list of boring grammar rules at the very end. As I said before, this is not by any means a grammar book, and it was annoying, and a little disappointing, to see the authors try to force the book’s flow back to where it started in the end of the book.

Please check out TsundokuReviews.wordpress.com for more great reviews! ( )

I received "Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction" as an Early Reviewer book a couple of months ago and I'm sorry to say I forgot to review it until now. I'm usually very prompt, but I wasn't inspired -- I enjoyed the book, but I just didn't have a lot to say about this one that hasn't been said by other reviewers. I really enjoy Tracy Kidder's writing and I was interested to find that he has to work very hard at his craft, rewriting over and over until he satisfies himself and his editor, Richard Todd. I like books on writing, but this one isn't so much a "how to do it" as it is a memoir on Todd and Kidder's relationship over many years and many books. Nice to read their different viewpoints, but it's kind of an odd book to categorize. As biography, it's more about the work than the authors, but as a book on writing, it's mainly about their relationship. I suppose that ultimately it does emphasize how important a good editor can be to a writer, and for that reason alone it's probably a good book for a writer to read. My next book on writing will be Fowler's "Modern English Usage," though. ( )

During the past three decades American culture has become louder, faster, more disjointed. For immediacy of effect, writers can’t compete with popular music or action movies, cable network news or the multiplying forms of instant messaging. We think that writers shouldn’t try, and that there is no need to try. Writing remains the best route we know toward clarity of thought and feeling.

Amen! However: that’s like newspaper’s argument against radio and television -- that depth beats immediacy -- and as generations are abandoning newspaper’s depth, so I fear they will abandon writing’s clarity.

Anyway, Good Prose is a combination memoir + lessons-learned about writing and editing nonfiction (narratives, essays and memoirs), written by a writer and his long-time editor. It covers narrative elements (story, characters, point of view, setting, structure); style (from dense journalese to wandering vernacular); truth vs. fact (and fact vs. manipulation); art vs. commercial success; and re-writing/being edited. It’s like a broader, deeper version of the “A Conversation with Author X” programs held at auditoriums and book fests, and is one of the better books “on writing” for readers and beginning writers. Plus, its discussions of Kidder’s (and others’) books increased my wishlist by about ten.

I marked dozens of passages, here are several:

To write is to talk to strangers. You want them to trust you. You might well begin by trusting them -- by imagining for the reader an intelligence at least equal to the intelligence you imagine for yourself.

Point of view is the place from which a storyteller listens in and watches. {...It’s} a place to stand, but more than that, a way to think and feel. {...} Against a large background, “I” can provide human scale. {...} the smaller the canvas, the more intrusive the first person is likely to be.

Most memoirists, struggling for accuracy, would endorse this rough code of conduct: faithfulness to fact defined as faithfulness to one’s own memories. {But} like the act of remembering, the act of writing your own story inevitably distorts, if only by creating form where disorder reigns. {...} That’s one point of a story: to replace confusion with sense. The impulse of memoir is itself a fictive impulse.

With good writing the reader enjoys a doubleness of experience, succumbing to the story or the ideas while also enjoying the writer’s artfulness.

I always wince when a reviewer says, “This book needed an editor.” Often it had an editor, but the writer prevailed. Sometimes a book arrives at an editor’s desk too late for the editor to make a substantial difference.

The kind of rewriting one learns, or used to learn, in high school or in a college freshman composition class, is a chore that mainly involves tinkering -- moving sentences and paragraphs around, prettying up a phrase, crossing out words and substituting better ones. {...But there’s a} second kind, from figuring out the essential thing you’re trying to do and looking for better ways to tell your story. ( )

Insightful, full of sage advice, and frequently entertaining. ( )

Good Prose is an unconventional writing guide. I wouldn’t even call it a writing guide, it’s more of a memoir of a writing team, a writer and editor who have been working together longer than the age of most readers of this book. Tracy Kidder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Richard Todd, a preeminent editor, former executive editor of The Atlantic Monthly, have worked on numerous writing projects over their forty years together, including Kidder’s award-winning book The Soul of a New Machine. There is no question that Kidder and Todd are masters of the nonfiction form, but as a voracious reader of writing guides, I found Good Prose to lack the consistent guidance and mentorship provided in other well-established guides such as Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, Stephen King’s On Writing, William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist, or my favorite, Norman Mailer’s The Spooky Art.

This is not to say that there are not helpful chapters on writing nonfiction. In Beginnings, their first chapter, the authors introduce themselves with the following truism: To write is to talk to strangers. You want them to trust you. There are useful suggestions here. The next chapter is a study of each component of the narrative: story, point of view, characters and structure. In their discussion of story, a point of focus is the concept of revelation. The author and reader must learn something in a nonfiction narrative. Revelation is what transforms an event into a story. For characters, I found this to be most helpful: give telling details (mere description won’t vivify a statue).

The authors devote a chapter each to memoirs and essays. But those are the only two forms they devote exclusive chapters to. For memoir, they share key tips: say difficult things, stick to the facts and be harder on yourself than others. For essays, a fresh idea is just as important as the essay itself, and you must make it your own. In their editing chapter, they stress the importance of rewriting, and what a privilege it is to get a second chance to make a first impression. Kidder says he generally rewrites a book ten times, top to bottom. And that it takes about three years for him to complete a book. At the end of the editing process, they read their entire book aloud. Yes, the whole thing. This can take three days. Intermixed between their writing tips are long philosophical narratives of their own personal experiences.

There is great content here from true veterans in the field. And if you are seeking to fine-tune your craft, it’s worth the read. But oddly enough, I think the book could have used some more editing. The memoir parts didn’t seem to fuse with the writing-guide parts. Also, I found the tone to be too detached; I sensed that the authors felt a sort of pity for the emerging writer. The voice almost sounded like my first journalism professor at Northwestern who always seemed to talk down to the student. The tone isn’t terribly encouraging for the new writer, but maybe that’s not what it’s supposed to be. Writing guides are usually written with a lot of personality and enthusiasm, unless you are reading Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Actually, Good Prose is compared to that classic. But who wants to be reading Strunk and White on a Saturday night by the fireplace?

Better to read it at the library, or at your desk with a highlighter and a lot of patience. And don’t expect much cheerleading. ( )

Good Prose is a collaboration of a 40 year relationship between Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd. The pair met at Atlantic Monthly when it was housed in its old headquarters in Boston. The early part of the book is a nostalgic look back on their early years together as Kidder labored to find his path as a writer, and Todd served as his editor/sounding board. For some readon, Kidder finds it very difficult to get through a first draft, and Todd is able to pull him through this difficult process without dampening his enthusiasm.

For many years Tracy Kidder lingered on the low rung of the authorship ladder until he had a breakthrough book, The Soul of a New Machine. It takes him approximately three years to write a book, and he and Richard Todd have settled into a routine that serves both well. They have a bond and intimacy that comes from decades of deep work of this sort, yet still give each other respect and space in a way that has kept them kind with each other. After a in-depth description of their relationship and background, the book moves into a major section on Narrative.

The Narrative section is workable and instructive, with excellent sections on story, point of view, characters and structure. Each subsection describes the craft as well as provides examples of excellent and poor writing. This section will be perhaps the most helpful to someone learning the craft of nonfiction prose.

Two more sections on Memoirs and Essays follow. Both of these are interesting and provide advise that is concrete and wise, particularly the section on Memoirs, a genre that has become more popular, yet often poorly written.

Chapters on accuracy and style are more journalistic, yet important when nonfiction often is just a step beyond journalism. It helps to know the distinction. A style section follows, and this is perhaps the weakest part of the book. There was not much here that could not be more easily found in a style manual, and it is not in an accessible format for quick searching.

The includes some of the business of writing and getting published. This is anecdotal, and interesting for someone who does not know the publishing world. It is hard to know how practical it will be with the changing writing/publishing landscape.

Closing with a great chapter on editing and being edited, Kidder and Todd describe reading and editing each other's work. A humourous section displaying how much they have learned from each other and how well they work together.

I enjoyed this book, but I can't say it is put together in a way that is as useful as I thought it might be. It is not organized so I could easily go back and find or refer to some tidbit I might want to review. This could be frustrating if one is looking for an instructive guide. I finally decided to just read this an an anjoyable piece, rather than as a reference or learning experience, hoping I would absorb and remember much of it. Because of this I rated it 3 stars rather than 4. I thought it could have been better organized as well as readable and serve as a resource to a writer over time. ( )

The product of a forty-year collaboration and friendship of the author-editor team of Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, Good Prose blends elements of memoir and writing advice into what the authors describe as “…mainly a practical book, the product of years of experiment in three types of prose: writing about the world, writing about ideas, and writing about the self.” Although providing plenty of advice and examples, this is not a typical how-to-write book. Rather, the tone is that of two professionals discussing the essence of what makes nonfiction work as an art form.

The authors delve into three forms of nonfiction: narratives, memoirs and essays, addressing issues of writing technique, personal style, factual accuracy, editing, and writing as a commercial venture. The supporting examples used are drawn from recognized master writers, both classic and contemporary, and each chapter contains italicized segments recounting the personal experience of one or the other of the authors. The following are just a few examples of the discussions that I found valuable.

“Beginnings are an exercise in limits.” Rather than reciting the standard principle of immediately grabbing the reader, the authors discuss the need to build trust, the importance of achieving clarity, and the quiet beginning as a means of effectively initiating a conversation with the reader.

“Every story has to be discovered twice, first in the world and then in the author’s study. One discovers a story the second time by constructing it. In nonfiction, the materials are factual, of course, but the construction itself is something different than fact.” The discussion of narratives includes the development of story, point of view, character and structure. The distinction is made between subject and story, with decisions on point of view guided by finding the character that best serves as narrator, appropriate to the scale of the story and the extent of the author’s direct involvement. Proportion, order and decisions on chronology are presented as the basic aspects of structure.

For memoir writing, the authors' focus is on some of the stickier aspects of the genre, such as the problem of knowing too much about oneself, how to convey present knowledge of past events, the questionable accuracy of memory, and how much to reveal of both self and others. “[G]ood memoir is different from the memories behind it, not a violation of them but different, and different of course from the actual experience that gave birth both to memory and to memoir.”

The essay is the blurriest of genres, taking many forms and purposes. In making a distinction between memoir and essay, the authors draw heavily on examples from Joan Didion, who while writing from her own experiences, turns memories into essays as “…she uses her own responses to the times as a means of trying to capture a broader truth about events.”

The authors’ discussions of style sent me searching for my own copy of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Four specific modes of writing are discussed, as influences found in much beginning professional writing: journalese, the new vernacular, institutionalese, and propaganda. While the problem of how to develop one’s own writing style ultimately remains amorphous, found somewhere in the sound of good writing, the advice offered is simple and clear. "If you can’t imagine yourself saying something aloud, then you probably shouldn’t write it…. Listen to yourself, and listen to those writers who are so great that they cannot be imitated.”

My initial interest in this book was based on an assumption that it was more memoir than writing advice. While this did not prove to be the case, I was not disappointed with what I found. You do not need to be seeking instruction or planning to write commercially in order to enjoy and benefit from this book. You only need to be a writer of prose in any of its forms. ( )

After a somewhat self-indulgent but not, for that, unnecessary introduction sketching the authors' history together, Good Prose is an excellent, well-written, and engaging bit of writing and editing advice. Todd and Kidder choose to discuss various aspects of non-fiction writing from the perspective of both writer and editor, mining their extraordinarily productive and mutually supportive relationship for examples and approaches to problems. It's good, uncomplicated writing advice, and it's a good read.

Like a lot of books about writing, it's a combination of memoir and advice, and the authors generally manage to stay out of their own ways while reminiscing. There's a very odd bit towards the end, though, where Todd, who otherwise seems like a normal guy, talks about the "gendered" roles of writer and editor that, while not reading as if Todd himself buys into gender stereotypes, is still jarring and presents a rather thoroughly outdated way of looking at the world. It tends to undercut the point he's trying to make, I think, about the nature of the relationship and whatever Todd might really think, it's surprisingly ill-advised in an otherwise really excellent book. ( )

If I asked for the names ten authors, I am sure that most of you could almost effortlessly give me a list from the tops of your heads. But if I asked for the names of even two editors, unless you are a publishing insider, I would likely get a very different result. That is part of the reason that Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction makes for such interesting reading. The book, part writing manual, part memoir, was co-written from the points-of-view of author Tracy Kidder and his editor of more than 40-years collaboration, Richard Todd.

The pair met in 1973 when Todd was assigned by The Atlantic Monthly to work with young freelancer Tracy Kidder. Todd was the slightly older, wiser writing practitioner who would walk Kidder through the process of getting published in one of the country’s oldest, and most prestigious, magazines for the first time. But that would be just the beginning for these two because that Atlantic article would ultimately evolve into Kidder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Soul of a New Machine. The memories of those early days shared by Todd and Kidder make for some rather intriguing (and heartwarming) reading as their work relationship develops into a more enduring one of respect and true friendship.

But, as the book’s subtitle, Stories and advice from a lifetime of writing and editing, suggests, it is also filled with good advice and instruction pertaining to writing narrative nonfiction, memoirs, and essays. The chapter on narratives, for instance, covers details like point of view, characters, and structure. There are also whole chapters on accuracy, style, and “being edited and editing.” The authors also offer practical business advice based upon the current state of the publishing industry (a glimpse of the art vs. commerce part of the business) and encouragement to the novice writer. Too, there is a more “nuts and bolts” section tiled “Notes on Usage” that addresses things like the distinctions between “which and that,” “who and whom,” and “may and might.”

Bottom line: don’t expect a complete, detailed manual on writing because Good Prose is not that kind of book. But, on the other hand, readers will enjoy, and benefit from this one, as much as any budding writer out there.

Rated at: 3.5 ( )

I’ve read several of Tacy kidder’s books and loved them. I re-read “Good Prose” looking for that spark which made me a fan of his previous work but I couldn’t find it. Maybe for writers this will be helpful to me it read like an instruction manual -- one do this, two do that and then try this if you’re stuck. As for the relationship with his editor not much spark there either seemed just like one of those good working partnerships instead of something special. January 2013 ( )

There's no doubt that Kidder and Todd can certainly write the "good prose" of the book's title. This book, however, puts some of their editing skills (which are also triumphed in the book) in question. Mostly, it's unclear exactly what the main goals of "Good Prose" are. Some sections of the book read like a text (there's even an appendix on proper usage), and the guiding sections on various non-fiction forms (narrative, essay, and memoir) take up interesting ethical questions and provide excellent examples from a variety of works. The many pages given over to memoir are somewhat interesting in their own right, but they don't seem to belong in a writing guide. While each individual section of the book is a good example of its form, the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts--mostly because it seems that Kidder and Todd never really settled on what non-fiction form they were themselves trying to produce--narrative, essay, or memoir? ( )

I love Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains, so I was excited to receive an early reviewer copy of this book, which he wrote with his longtime editor Richard Todd. In the introduction to the book, Kidder and Todd argue for the importance of writing:

"For immediacy of effect, writers can't compete with popular music or action movies, cable network news or the multiplying forms of instant messaging. We think that writers shouldn't try and that there is no need to try. Writing remains the best route we know toward clarity of thought and feeling." (pp. xvi-xvii).

And since this is a book about writing good prose, Kidder and Todd assure us that writing can be improved:

"That you can learn to write better is one of our fundamental assumptions. No sensible person would deny the mystery of talent, or for that matter the mystery of inspiration. But if it is vain to deny these mysteries, it is useless to depend on them." (p. xvi).

What follows are eight loosely related chapters about writing good prose. They cover a range of types of writing (memoirs, narratives, essays) and a number of tough issues (accuracy, style, and commerce). While all provide some good tips, the thing that sets this book apart from other books on writing is the dual perspective of writer and editor. Perhaps because of this, my favorite chapter was titled "Being Edited and Editing." Together, Kidder and Todd provide insight into the process of revision, sorting through voluminous first drafts to find the illusive story. Here's Kidder's take on revising:

"I learned to like rewriting, maybe too much, but really it is the writer's special privilege. We rarely get the kind of chance in life that rewriting offers, to revise our pasts, to take back what we've said and say it better before others hear it." (p. 151)

This book is especially recommended for those of you who would like to write better prose or to appreciate the craft of nonfiction writing more fully. ( )

Who knew that a book about writing could be so much fun to read. Reading "Good Prose" was not only entertaining it also taught me a lot about what it takes to write great nonfiction. The authors give many examples that illustrate their points about proper form and style that will be very useful for any writer. Kidder and Todd also share anecdotes about their many years of working together and this made for a more personable and engaging read. I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it! ( )

I enjoyed Kidder-and-Todd’s GOOD PROSE: THE ART OF NONFICTION (definitely five stars), where they argue “that the publishing industry is not organized to reward editors who spend a lot of time on books,” but I am surprised that they have nothing to say about MFA programs. “A writer should try to involve the editor early in the process,” they advise. “You don’t want a perfunctory involvement. You want investment.” This sounds to me like Good MFA Mentoring. They also state: “Even those who have been trained in a language of distance and irony toward everything institutional, and especially toward government, must feel from time to time that there is something that justifies thinking in Orwell’s terms….writers live most fully when their work moves beyond performance, beyond entertainment or information, beyond pleasing audience and editor, when it does all that and yet represents their most important beliefs.” The emphasis on “pleasing” brings to mind MY FAIR LADY with the writer Eliza Doolittle and the editor Henry Higgins. ( )

While there are many books available on how to write, "Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction" is one of the most engaging and helpful books on writing that I have encountered. Tracy Kidder, a well-regarded nonfiction author, and Richard Todd, his longtime editor, not only provide excellent advice on writing, such as the importance of form and the role of the editor, but they also pepper the chapters with a selection of examples from Kidder's work and the work of other writers. These examples help underscore their points in a way that mere explanation never could (think of it as "showing" versus "telling" in writing).

Additionally, Kidder and Todd both have a voice in the text, which allows the perspectives of the writer and the editor to have a presence. This duality is vital to the book's success. Although editing and writing are two sides to the same coin, editors and writers often take divergent approaches to a piece of text. Writers seek to protect the product of countless hours of research and writing while editors hope to get to the heart of the piece even if it comes at the expense of a much-loved paragraph. Having Kidder and Todd weigh in on the work of writing and editing give the book a sense of balance and provides insight into both processes.

As michigantrumpet notes, this book is more of a master class rather than a primer in the basics of writing. However, this does not detract from its worth or usefulness. "Good Prose" is a great resource for writers, editors, and teachers, and I know I will use it with my English education students as they prepare to teach writing. ( )

A writer and an editor together can form a powerful team. This book is the story of such a team, both as a collaborative approach to the various kinds of non-fiction, and as individuals who have learned to work with each other while maintaining their own viewpoints. It was a privilege to listen to two colleagues talk to one another about their mutual profession.

It is a book of advice about different kinds of non-fiction, with the strengths and weaknesses of each form, and things to watch out for if you should choose to write an essay, or a memoir, or whatever,

I very much enjoyed reading this book as a story of a collaboration, as well as the focus on kinds of non-fiction, and advice about grammar. It is well written, and quickly read. ( )

I have been a BIG fan of Kidder's non-fiction. 'House', 'Among Schoolchildren', and 'Mountains Beyond Mountains', are among my favorite books. With 'Good Prose', Kidder and his longtime friend and editor, Todd, exchange stories and share their views as to what constitutes good prose writing. They offer many examples, good and bad, from both their own writing and that of others. Loved when I recognized takes from writing I know and appreciate. I was intrigued enough to investigate further when introduced to writing I didn't know. The breathtakingly beautiful 'The Color of a Sound' haunts me still. This is less a nuts-and-bolts primer, and more like a very good masters class. It is daunting to write a review about book on good prose - laying bare all my own weaknesses. For Kidder and Todd, I'm happy to join in the plaudits with a hearty 'huzzah'. I loved this book for making me a better writer and reader. ( )

Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd (Random House, January 2013) is a volume about what makes nonfiction great. Using their own experiences as a writer of nonfiction (Tracy Kidder, bestselling author) and an editor of creative nonfiction (Richard Todd, Atlantic editor), the two friends provide a compelling tale of what makes good writing good, and what makes a good writer a good writer, covering everything from how to begin and how to structure a narrative to the more complicated specifics of memoirs, essays, style, and writing as job in today’s society.

I once again had the disadvantage of never having read the authors who wrote this book, but it did not impact my enjoyment of it. I loved their discussions of the important aspects of story, point of view, how to discuss characters, and how to structure a creative nonfiction work.

I really enjoy reading nonfiction that is well done, and so I enjoyed reading Kidder and Todd’s look at what makes it so. When I finished reading it at the beginning of January, I felt much more enthusiastic than I do now, almost a month after the fact. Was it a forgettable volume, or have the past weeks of family flu and other distractions simply dimmed my memory of the experience of reading it? I don’t know, but since I have it on my shelf, I may revisit it again in the future to see what I think about it after I read some more compelling nonfiction.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of Good Prose from the publisher via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program.

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