dmturner's review
4.0
A chatty, cheerful autobiography by the author of many good books for kids including THE WHIPPING BOY. I was surprised to learn that he had also written for movies. He makes his knockabout life seem easy and enjoyable, shows how his experiences as a magician, newspaper writer, and screenwriter informed his writing, and gives some excellent advice for would-be fiction writers. The short chapters make this a good "snacking" book, not something I would read in one sitting. He certainly interested me in his writing, and I'm going to have to look up some more of his books.
impreader's review
4.0
Fleischman makes narrative and humour as deftly impish and grin-inducing as an abracadabra on stage: his autobio bounces along with the same energy and storyteller's turns as his fiction. Maybe living an authentic life -- learning new curiosities each day -- is exactly what gave him the means to write such good fiction. Life is stranger, after all. Good stories -- Fleischman's life makes a good case for their origin being in living one.
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