U.P. readers may find something quite familiar in a recently released collection of essays by Tom Bissell, as he explores the character of Escanaba, his hometown, in one of the essays. Here, the collection is reviewed by a L.A. Times critic.
Excerpt: Essays sneak up on us. They are - or often feel - accidental: the record of a writer wrestling with an idea, an observation, a slice of experience, of a writer figuring it out. They have a conditional quality, as if they could go in any direction, offering impressions more than conclusive points of view.
As Tom Bissell notes at the beginning of "Magic Hours: Essays on Creators and Creation": "When I am asked ... for advice on how to get started as a nonfiction writer, I tell them to start small and look around."
For the whole review, go
here.
Source: Kansas City Star
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