illymally's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection of essays by authors of fiction on literature and its role in a political world.
siria's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty tiresome. I liked Pico Iyer's and Nadine Gordimer's essays, but this was largely an uneven and self-congratulatory collection. Francine Prose's contribution made me roll my eyes—her writing had a tendency to confuse barely-developed ideas and smug questions for gnomicism. Ed Park's was inane. No one, it seems, ever told John Updike that his personal experiences and feelings are not necessarily universal—I found his essay infuriating, positing as it does that everyone ought to feel about writing the same way as he does. Still, I suppose the time spent reading this slim volume saved me from spending much longer slogging through the novels of some of the writers featured here.
aroldo's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
amyjbc's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
A necessary read for those in the fight against book banning.
drpschmidt's review against another edition
5.0
An awesome collection of essays discussing the freedom of thought! Probably one that I will go back and buy to add to my collection and recommend to students.
profpeaton's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
kig's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
richardwells's review against another edition
4.0
Eleven novelists answer the question, "why write," i.e. why do humans tell stories, and especially "why bear witness" and the artist's responsibility to do just that. Short, 128 pages, and fascinating as each writer draws from his/her own political reality to expound on the motivations and aethstetics of the literature of "witness."