A collection of essays taken from thirty years of talks given for the Literary Arts' lecture series. While a number of these essays put my back up with the amount of effort they put into creating insiders and outsiders (the insiders being those who read, write, and are concerned with *nose is the air* Serious Lit-er-ature and the outsiders being those who write or read *sneer a bit* commercial fiction), for the most part this was an inspiring, compelling read. I particularly enjoyed the pieces by [[Chimamanda Adichie]], [[Ursuala K. LeGuin]], and [[E.L. Doctorow]]; I've been inspired to seek out their fiction by the essays by [[Edward P. Jones]] and [[Wallace Stegner]]. Recommended. ( )

*I requested this book from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline as a free e-book ARC. I receive nothing but the book, and was not in any way compensated for reviewing it.*

Celebrating 30 years of Literary Arts, this Portland, Oregon based organization collects ten lectures by authors from the lecture series that the group presents every year. Chimamanda Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, E.L. Doctorow, Edward P. Jones, Ursula K. Le Guin, Marilynne Robinson, Wallace Stegner, Robert Stone, and Jeannette Winterson. Each writer brings a unique focus to their writing and thoughts on reading and life in these lectures.

I love books about books, reading and writing, so when I first saw this collection of lectures from writers such as Margaret Atwood, Wallace Stegner, and Ursula K. Le Guin, I jumped at the chance to read it. Though the subtitle indicates that it's about "how and why we write," this isn't a how-to book. Instead, the subjects range all over the place from "Should art have morality?" to whether or not one has to research before writing historical fiction. Over the course of the lectures, each writer's process or thoughts on reading and storytelling is often illuminated, but generally not the main focus. Thought-provoking and essential reading for anyone who aspires to be a writer and for readers who like to get into an author's head. ( )