The Sound on the Page

I first read pieces of it for a writing class, and after the class was over it ended up on my “to read” shelf. The author attempts to define, survey, and categorize writing style though both inspection of texts and insightful conversations with an amazing selection of writers. Not just popular and literary fiction writers, but critics, journalists, poets, humorists and writers of most every stripe and color are interviewed discussing their own works and style and the style and works of their influences (and counter-influences as well.)

I could have ended this review with the clichéd “...and it changed the way I...”, but instead I will say that as a reader it fascinated me to watch linguistic gymnastics of an author's style analyzed down to the separate movements that a page, a paragraph, and even a sentence take to land. As a fledgling writer, I found it more inspiring and interesting than any navel gazing “on writing” book. The focus was not on how, but on what. What does style mean, what goes into constructing it.