The Writing Life

By: Annie Dillard

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

With color, irony, and sensitivity, Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard illuminates the dedication, absurdity, and daring that is the writer’s life. As it probes and exposes, examines and analyzes, The Writing Life offers deeper insight into one of the most mysterious of professions.

©1989 Annie Dillard (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Annie Dillard is a wonderful writer, and The Writing Life is full of joys.” ( New York Times Book Review)

must read

good for all who are looking to write something. the imagery is fantastic.i loved it even more the second time.

Lyrical

This piece about what it’s like to be a writer - both philosophically and practically - has been illuminating for me. Thank you for the insights and a few tips, Ms. Dillard.

Audible narration is top-notch.

Random Thoughts on the Writer’s Craft

Dillard is a Pulitzer Prize winning Poet, Essayist and Novelist whose work I read many years ago. She married a friend of mine and I’ve followed her work over the years. Since I’ve been doing a little writing recently I thought I would read her thoughts on the craft.

That’s exactly what the bulk of this brief work is: a Stream of Consciousness of her thoughts as she has struggled with the challenges the writer faces when they sit down with the blank page. It’s not a step by step how-to manual but rather a scattering of notions that go through one’s mind during the process.

That said, just hearing the thoughts of an accomplished author and sympathizing with her experiences has value to anyone who enjoys writing or even reading. Four stars.

I might add that her final story about the work of a professional acrobatic performance pilot and his bi-plane on how he sees his art is worth the price of admission.

Reads like a poem

This is written in the spirit of a long-form poem, as an ode to (and lamentation of) the creative life. There's some good information here—not presented as a to-do list, but rather as a story, where we learn from the example of the author and her life as a writer. The narrator is absolutely excellent, with her voice inflections worthy of a poetry performance.

Entertaining Read

Riveting and poignant description of the life of a writer. Brimming with many metaphors and descriptions of the difficulty and apparent impossibilities which come with the territory.