What The Press is Saying Click here to purchase The Stuff of Fiction from To read Douglas Bauer's lovely ruminations on the art of literary fiction is to be transported back to those intimate seminars one never quite appreciated enough in school. How refreshing it is to read a book about fiction writing that speaks of nothing so crass as hooking readers or marketing oneself or conforming to genre specifications. Instead, Bauer contemplates one element of fiction per chapter, opening with openings and ending with endings . What he finds, whether developing dialogue or character or sentiment , is that it is crucial to say neither too much nor too little. A writer must have the balance of an acrobat, and be able to navigate the gray zones.
Dialogue works best when one eliminates many of the words.
E.B. White, Toni Morrison, and others. This book contains some of the very best advice for writers. Bauer examines the components of fiction and provides excellent examples from accomplished writers to demonstrate how the basic elements can be manipulated into effective and subtle storytellling. Bauer's lectures both stimulate and challenge . . .