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Conversations 1970-2006
An incisive collection of interviews with one of the leading lights of American writing.
Joyce Carol Oates has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde , which was nominated for the National Book Award.
In her acceptance speech for the National Book Award in 1970, Joyce Carol Oates remarked that "language is all we have to pit against death and silence." In this remarkable new collection of interviews spanning more than 35 years of Oates's career, she talks candidly and insightfully about literature, the writing life, her background, and many other topics. These interviews should interest not only Oates's many fans but anyone who cares about contemporary American literature.
The interviews range from Robert Phillip's in The Paris Review to Lawrence Grobel's in Playboy . Though previously published, often in literary magazines, the majority have never appeared in book form.
From the
"If art is, as I believe it to be, a genuinely transcendental function—a means by which we rise out of limited, parochial states of mind—then it should not matter very much what states of mind or emotion we are in. Generally I've found this to be I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes…and somehow the activity of writing changes everything."
"I take my writing seriously, but I don't take myself seriously…that is, I don't feel pontifical or dogmatic. Writing is an absolutely fascinating activity, an immersion in drama, language, and vision."
Joyce Carol Oates has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde , which was nominated for the National Book Award.
In her acceptance speech for the National Book Award in 1970, Joyce Carol Oates remarked that "language is all we have to pit against death and silence." In this remarkable new collection of interviews spanning more than 35 years of Oates's career, she talks candidly and insightfully about literature, the writing life, her background, and many other topics. These interviews should interest not only Oates's many fans but anyone who cares about contemporary American literature.
The interviews range from Robert Phillip's in The Paris Review to Lawrence Grobel's in Playboy . Though previously published, often in literary magazines, the majority have never appeared in book form.
From the
"If art is, as I believe it to be, a genuinely transcendental function—a means by which we rise out of limited, parochial states of mind—then it should not matter very much what states of mind or emotion we are in. Generally I've found this to be I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes…and somehow the activity of writing changes everything."
"I take my writing seriously, but I don't take myself seriously…that is, I don't feel pontifical or dogmatic. Writing is an absolutely fascinating activity, an immersion in drama, language, and vision."
300 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2006
55 people want to read
About the author
Greg Johnson
198 books27 followersGreg Johnson has been in publishing for more than 25 years. Before becoming a full-time literary agent in 1994, he wrote and published 20 works of nonfiction with traditional publishers, as well as being an editor for a teenage boys magazine for five years. In his years as an agent, he has personally represented more than 2,300 books and negotiated more than 1,800 contracts to over 85 publishing houses. These works include adult trade books (non-fiction and fiction), children’s books, specialty Bibles, movie options, video curricula, audio products, gift books and greeting cards.
While Greg’s stable of authors is near full, he will occasionally take on new authors and new projects. Along with representing a broad array of adult fiction, primarily in the Christian market, Greg works with pastors and speakers, male and female, who have important and compelling messages to author for their constituents. He has also carved a niche by representing military nonfiction/memoir for those who have served our country from WWII until today. Business books, health and humor rounds out what he is looking to acquire.
Greg is married to Becky and together they are parents of six adult children and seven grandchildren. They make their home near Denver, Colo.
~http://www.wordserveliterary.com/part...
While Greg’s stable of authors is near full, he will occasionally take on new authors and new projects. Along with representing a broad array of adult fiction, primarily in the Christian market, Greg works with pastors and speakers, male and female, who have important and compelling messages to author for their constituents. He has also carved a niche by representing military nonfiction/memoir for those who have served our country from WWII until today. Business books, health and humor rounds out what he is looking to acquire.
Greg is married to Becky and together they are parents of six adult children and seven grandchildren. They make their home near Denver, Colo.
~http://www.wordserveliterary.com/part...
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November 12, 2012
An excellent collection of interviews with one of the greatest writers in the world,...the amazing Joyce Carol Oates!
Displaying 1 of 1 review