"For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction...

With Point Made, legal writing expert Ross Guberman throws a life preserver to attorneys, who are under more pressure than ever to produce compelling prose. What is the strongest opening for a motion or brief? How to draft winning headings? How to tell a persuasive story when the record is dry and dense? The answers are "more science than art," says Guberman, who has analyzed stellar arguments by distinguished attorneys to develop step-by-step instructions...

The New York Times bestselling author of the beloved classic How to Read Literature Like a Professor teaches you how to write everything from a report for your community association to a meaningful memoir in this masterful and engaging guide. Combing anecdotes and hard-won lessons from decades of teaching and writing-and invoking everyone from Hemingway to your third-grade teacher-retired professor Thomas C. Foster guides you through the basics of...

Combing anecdotes and hard-won lessons from decades of teaching and writing--and invoking everyone from Hemingway to your third-grade teacher--retired professor Thomas C. Foster guides you through the basics of writing. With How to Write Like a Writer you'll learn how to organize your thoughts, construct first drafts, and (not incidentally) keep you in your chair so that inspiration can come to visit.

Examines "the greatest works of world literature, from the Iliad to Don Quixote to The Great Gatsby. Around 100 ... articles explore landmark novels, short stories, plays, and poetry that reinvented the art of writing in their time, whether Ancient Greece, post-classical Europe, or modern-day Korea"--Amazon.com.

"Read great fiction and discover what it takes to write it. This book is a treasury of short fiction by the best writers of the past and present. Their stories will transport you to other times and places, where you will be inspired to laugh, to question, and to think. Along with the stories are writers' own commentaries on their craft and the traditions of short fiction, offering you insight, inspiration, and plenty of support for discussion and...

Publisher's description: With the literary canon consisting mostly of works created by and about men, the central perspective is decidedly male. This unique reference offers alternate approaches to reading traditional literature, as well as suggestions for expanding the canon to include more gender sensitive works. Covering 96 of the most frequently taught works of fiction, essays offer teachers, librarians, and students fresh insights into the female...