Tell It Slant

This book was received in the condition as described by the seller. I was completely satisfied with this purchase.

I've gone round and round trying to find a reasonably good text for a creative nonfiction course I'm teaching in the spring. Tell It Slant was sitting on my bookshelf, so I picked it up one day. It gets to the point, offers excellent, accessible advice, and allows me to teach writing. For a complete novice, it might be too little, but for an experienced writer and teacher, it's an excellent introduction to creative nonfiction. My sole complaint is that it's overpriced. I suspect that's a result of it's textbook classification, a pet-peeve of mine. Students shouldn't have to pay $40 for a paperback, or for any textbook for that matter.

Even so, that's not the authors' fault, and I highly recommend this book.

Ralph Wahlstrom

I think the book touches on good stuff but I there's too much time referencing other people's works. Also, none of the information goes into detail; for example, the chapter on The Basics of Personal Reportage reads like an outline with the authors touching on key points and then moving on to different topic. The sections of the book are not even a page long. I just wish there were more writing help vs outline and trying to show their Knowledgeable by talking about other's work.

I'm surprised I'm the first person to review this book! Having recently read a half-dozen other titles on the subject, I find myself coming back to this one again and again. If you want to start writing creative nonfiction RIGHT NOW, this is the book for you. It's extremely well-written and accessible.

Each chapter offers plenty of exercises for the individual writer and variations on the exercises for writing groups. All of the various forms of creative nonfiction are explained, as well as the challenges they entail.

The authors divide the book into three major parts focusing on "unearthing" the material, the forms of creative nonfiction, and "honing your craft." They discuss such topics as sentence rhythm, exposition versus scene, the pitfalls of "revenge prose," basics of good writing, mining your memory, and writing groups.

There is a very good bibliography and plenty of brief examples of other writers' work. In short, a wealth of information can be found between the covers of this slim 185-page book. Buy this book before you buy any other book on writing creative nonfiction.