W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 1

WritingBooks Guides for Course Adoption

www.HarperAcademic.com

C O M P osition • J O urn A L I S M • EI C R AT V E W R i t i n G • P oetrY • S C R een W R i t i n G • B U s i n e s s W R i t i n G • W R itin G C A R e e r s • MMA G R A R , S T Y L E , R e f e r e n C E , A N D LA N G U AG E

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 1

COMPO S t i O N On Writing Well C o n t e n t s : Introduction • Part I: Principles • The Transaction • Simplicity • Clutter • Style • The Audience • Words • Usage • Part II: Methods • Unity • The Lead and the Th e Classic Guide to Writing Ending • Bits & Pieces • Part III: Forms • Nonfiction as Literature • Writing About People: Nonfiction The Interview • Writing About Places: The Travel Article • Writing About Yourself: The 30th Anniversary Edition Memoir • Science and Technology • Business Writing • Sports • Writing about the Art: William Zinsser Critics and Columnists • Humor • Part IV: Attitudes • The Sound of Your Voice • Enjoy- ment, Fear and Confidence • The Tyranny of the Final Product • A Writer’s Decisions • Expanded and updated, the 30th anniversary Write as Well as You Can edition of this favorite of both teachers and students now contains three new chapters, and William Zinsser is a writer, editor and teacher. He began his career with the New York many new passages that place new emphasis on Herald Tribune and has long been a freelance writer for several leading magazines. During the the writer’s voice and on such fundamental 1970s he taught writing at Yale University, where he was master of Branford College from values as intention, character, and making 1979 to 1987. decisions. Zinsser was general editor of the Book-of-the-Month Club. His eighteen books, ranging While still covering all of the basics, Zinsser from jazz to baseball, also include the influential Writing to Learn. He now teaches at the includes a new chapter entitled “Enjoyment, New School in New York and at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Fear, and Confidence,” urging students to convey zest for what they are writing about and to overcome their anxieties by trusting their general intelligence. Another chapter, “The Tyranny of the Final Product,” advises students not to visualize their completed article but Also Available: to focus on all the prior decisions of selection, organization, and tone that will eventually let On Writing Well CD Audio Collection them know what their piece is about. William Zinsser Including On Writing Well and How to Write a Memoir, these classic audios are the definitive works on the art “Not since Elements of Style has there been a guide to writing as well presented of nonfiction writing. and readable as this one. A love and respect for the language is evident on every HarperAudio: 3 CDs/2.5 hours. page.”—Library Journal 2004 978-0-06-058611-9 $14.95 ($17.50 Can.) “On Writing Well belongs on any shelf of serious reference works for writers.” —New York Times

Harper paperbacks: 336 pp.; index. 2006 978-0-06-089154-1 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) Resources for On Writing Well Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy NPR Interview with William Zinsser

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 2

New Writing to Learn Writing Places Hwt o o Write—and Think—Clearly About Any Subject At All Th e Life Journey of a Writer and William Zinsser Teacher William Zinsser Zinsser’s point of departure is that writing is a powerful method of learning: “Writing enables In Writing Places Zinsser describes more than 50 us to find out what we know—and what we years of writing and teaching in a series of don’t know—about whatever we’re trying to unusual locations, starting with his first job at learn.” the legendary New York Herald Tribune and including freelance stints in lonely apartments; a “An elegant exposition of the thesis that to decade as master of Branford College at Yale, write is to learn . . . in the tradition of where his office was under a carillon; and Strunk and White, a model in its own various quirky offices in New York, one of right.”—Kirkus Reviews which had a firepole. Each place taught him Harper paperbacks: 272 pp. valuable lessons that shaped the influential writer 1993 978-0-06-272040-5 pb, $14.95 ($18.99 Can.) and teacher he would become. Written with humor, elegance, and vividly remembered detail about the men and women who kept crossing his life, Writing Places will delight students who dream of writing their own distinctive story.

Harper: 208 pp. 2009 978-0-06-172902-7 hc, $22.99 ($29.50 Can.)

Resources for Writing Places Resources for Writing to Learn Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 3

New Simple & Direct The Elements of Story Aht R e oric for Writers Jacques Barzun F oield N tes on Nonfiction Writing Francis Flaherty After a lifetime of writing and editing prose, Jacques Barzun has set his view of the best ways The bulk of writing books address grammar, to improve one’s style. His discussions of diction, style, and other line-by-line topics. Francis syntax, tone, meaning, composition, and revision Flaherty believes that complex, story-level guide students through the technique of making concerns—how to make a story move and how the written word clear and agreeable to read. to use description to buttress your theme—pose equally common and far more formidable The book includes exercises, model passages, problems for writers. and hundreds of amusing examples of usage gone wrong. In the spirit of The Elements of Style, and drawn from Flaherty’s long experience as an editor at “History teacher, writer, critic, Barzun the New York Times, this highly entertaining book strikes at pedantry, malapropisms, shows how Times articles read the way they do, imprecision, misdirection—all the ways presenting 50 secrets of successful narratives. language can go wrong on the page—and “Sometimes, say things sideways,” Flaherty writes, emerges the victor.”—Booklist “the reader will be grateful.” “White is whitest on black,” he observes, “let contrast work for Harper Perennial: 288 pp.; notes; index you.” Through these and other hard-won story-level insights, sprinkled with examples from 2001 978-0-06-093723-2 pb, $12.95 ($14.95 Can.) real stories and leavened with a good dose of newsroom memoir, The Elements of Story fills a large gap in the long shelf of writing books.

Harper: 320 pp.; index. 2009 978-0-06-168914-7 hc, $24.99 ($32.99 Can.)

Resources for The Elements of Story Resources for Simple & Direct Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Columbia College Profile of Jacques Barzun

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 4

The Classic Guide to The Sound on the Page Better Writing S tyle and Voice in Writing Ben Yagoda Se t p-by-Step Techniques and Exercises to Write Simply, Clearly, In writing, style matters. Our favorite writers and Correctly often entertain, move, and inspire us less by 50th Anniversary Edition what they say than by how they say it. In The Rudolf Flesch & A. H. Lass Sound on the Page, acclaimed author, teacher, and critic Ben Yagoda offers practical and incisive Rudolf Flesch’s philosophy is simple: writing help for students on developing and discovering clearly and correctly doesn’t have to be difficult. their own style and voice. This wonderfully rich With this handbook of practical methods and and readable book features interviews with wisdom, students can learn to express themselves more than 40 of our most important authors on paper. discussing their literary style, including Dave The many examples and exercises included in Barry, Harold Bloom, Bill Bryson, Michael this book will guide them through the writing Chabon, Jamaica Kincaid, and Anna Quindlen. process: getting started; organizing ideas; “This entertaining and instructive book connecting ideas; choosing the right tone; should be part of any writing collection.”—Library Journal making meaning clear; giving writing flair and punch; and using correct grammar. Harper paperbacks: 304 pp. Collins Reference: 320 pp.; index. 2005 978-0-06-093822-2 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) 1996 978-0-06-273048-0 pb, $13.99 ($17.99 Can.)

Resources for The Classic Guide to Better Writing Resources for The Sound on the Page Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Page Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Wikipedia Entry for Rudolf Flesch Ben Yagoda’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 5

Writing for Your Life Writing Your Life Dso i c vering the Story of Your Putting Your Past on Paper Life’s Journey Lou Willett Stanek, Ph.D. Deena Metzger The veteran writing teacher, lecturer, and author In the tradition of Annie Dillard and Natalie of So You Want to Write a Novel can help your Goldberg, this detailed resource for writers students translate their joys and ordeals, thoughts shows the act of writing to be a dynamic means and triumphs into superbly crafted nonfiction— of healing. taking them step-by-step through the writing process with care, encouragement, and expert “A deep and valuable book about writing advice. and the creative life that stimulates the imagination.”—Linda Leonard, Ph.D., Harper paperbacks: 192 pp. author of Witness to the Fire 1996 978-0-38-078625-1 pb, $12.99 ($16.99 Can.)

HarperOne: 272 pp. 1992 978-0-06-250612-2 pb, $16.99 ($19.95 Can)

Resources for Writing for Your Life Resources for Writing Your Life Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Deena Metzger’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 6

How Soccer Explains Fast Food Nation the World Th a e D rk Side of the All-American Meal An {Unlikely} Theory of Eric Schlosser Globalization Franklin Foer A favorite of composition and rhetoric professors, Fast Food Nation presents students Foer uses soccer as a lens through which he with everything they never wanted to know examines the political and social climate of the about their favorite foods in this engrossing yet world we live in. He captivates his audience alarming story of America’s fast food chains. Part with stylish prose and fascinating reportage on investigative journalism, part social criticism, this the world of soccer and how it reflects many of book will leave a lasting impact on anyone who the world’s problems and triumphs. reads it—no matter what their food preferences Here is a wonderful addition to any nonfiction may be. writing class. Impeccably researched and masterfully put “A riveting analysis of football’s struggle to together, Schlosser delivers a witty, shocking, come to terms with the forces of free and artfully crafted tale of America’s fast food trade, multinational brands and cultural industry. The P.S. section features a new Afterword by the author as well as interviews and imperialism. . . . When it comes to writing about the sport, [Foer] is world other timely information. class.”—Newsweek “An elegiac exposé of how burger, fries and sodas came to symbolize America.”—New York Times Book Review Harper Perennial: 272 pp.; index 2005 978-0-06-073142-7 pb, $13.99 ($17.99 Can.) Harper Perennial: 416 pp.; illustrations; index. 2005 978-0-06-083858-4 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for How Soccer Explains the World Resources for Fast Food Nation Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Video of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Interview with Franklin Foer Fast Food Nation Movie Website PBS Frontline Program Modern Meat Website The Fast Food Explorer Website Fast Food and Families Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 7

Freakonomics SuperFreakonomics Ao R gue Economist Explores the G lobal Cooling, Patriotic Hidden Side of Everything Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Revised and Expanded Edition Bombers Should Buy Life Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner Insurance Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner Why should you assign a book on economics to your writing students? Freakonomics is a rare mix When originally published, Freakonomics of revolutionary ideas and wonderful writing. exploded like a bomb on the culture, forever Complex issues and statistics are carefully—but changing the way students understand the way straightforwardly—explained to make each the world works and how they really make point clear. Freakonomics will demonstrate to decisions. After more than two years on the your students how to think and write analyti- New York Times bestseller list, 3 million copies cally—and how to examine issues from a variety sold, and single-handedly inventing a genre of of perspectives. books, University of Chicago economist Steven D. Levitt and New York Times writer “Levitt employs statistical tools that are Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics. simple yet elegant. He cuts to the heart of Based on entirely new research, it’s bigger, more a question and picks topics that are fascinating.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review provocative, and ready to challenge the way students think all over again. William Morrow: 256 pp.; notes; index. 2006 978-0-06-123400-2 hc, $25.95 ($35.99 Can.) William Morrow: 320 pp. 2009 978-0-06-088957-9 hc, $29.99 ($38.99 Can.) Harper Perennial: 336 pp.; notes; index 2009 P.S. 978-0-06-073133-5 pb, $15.99 ($19.99 Can.)

Paperback available in September 2009

Visit www.HarperAcademic.com to download the instructor’s guide.

Resources for Freakonomics Resources for SuperFreakonomics Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Freakonomics Blog on the New York Times Website Follow Freakonomics on Twitter Steven Levitt Video Lecture: “Why Do Crack Dealers Still Live With Their Moms?”

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 8

Essays of E. B. White Writings from E. B. White The New Yorker 1927–1976 This classic collection of one of the greatest essayists of our time has been an inspiration to E. B. White nonfiction writers since its publication, and con- tinues to be used in both literature and writing “There are enough sparkling gems here to courses as an example of superb writing. show that White was one of the country’s great literary treasures.”—New York Times “Some of the finest examples of contem- porary, genuinely American prose. White’s Harper Perennial: 264 pp. style incorporates eloquence without 2006 978-0-06-092123-1 pb, $14.95 ($16.25 Can.) affection, profundity without pomposity, and wit without frivolity or hostility. Like his predecessors Thoreau and Twain, White’s creative, humane, and graceful perceptions are an education for the sensibilities.”—Washington Post

Harper Perennial Modern Classics: 384 pp. 2006 978-0-06-093223-7 pb $14.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for Essays of E. B. White Resources for Writings from The New Yorker Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Essay by Roger Angell in The New Yorker on His Stepfather, E. B. White

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 9

Letters of E. B. White New R evised Edition Anne Frank Foreword by John Updike Th ooe B k, The Life, The Afterlife

Updated with newly released letters from 1976 Francine Prose to 1985, additional photographs, and a new foreword by the late John Updike, this In June 1942, just weeks before she and her unparalleled collection of letters now spans family went into hiding from the Nazis, Anne nearly a century, from 1908 to 1985. Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday and began writing one of the most Harper Perennial: 768 pp.; index. compelling documents of modern history, The 2007 978-0-06-137459-3 pb, $19.95 ($23.50 Can.) Diary of a Young Girl. But the diary of Anne Frank, argues Francine Prose, is as much a work of art as a historical record. Few books have been as influential, and Prose thoroughly investigates the diary’s unique afterlife: the obstacles and criticism Otto Frank faced in publishing his daughter’s words; the controversy surrounding the diary’s Broadway and film adaptations; the claims of conspiracy theorists who have cried fraud, and the scientific analysis that proved them wrong. Finally, having assigned the book to her own students, Prose considers the rewards and challenges of teaching the diary.

Harper: 336 pp.; index. 2009 978-0-06-143079-4 hc, $24.99 ($32.99 Can.)

Resources for Letters of E. B. White Resources for Anne Frank Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy The Official Anne Frank House Museum Website The Anne Frank Center Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 10

T ruth & Beauty Autobiography A Friendship of a Face Ann Patchett Lucy Grealy Patchett paints an exquisite portrait of a With an Afterword by Ann Patchett decades-long friendship with the critically acclaimed writer Lucy Grealy. This is a tender “I spent five years of my life being treated yet brutally honest book about loving a person for cancer, but since then I’ve spent fifteen we cannot save. It is about loyalty, and about years being treated for nothing other than being lifted up by the sheer effervescence of looking different from everyone else. It someone who knew how to live life to the was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, fullest. that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer Students will be awestruck by Patchett’s seemed minor in comparison.”— Lucy beautiful and lyrical writing style. Truth & Grealy Beauty has been picked as a freshman common reader at Miami University and Clemson Vividly portraying the pain of peer rejection and College—and it continues to be adopted across the guilty pleasures of wanting to be special, the curriculum—from courses on writing to women’s studies. Grealy captures with unique insight what it is like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for “This frank, perceptive book can be read in many ways, not only as a story of who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect. friendship but also as a young artist’s eye-opening introduction to the wider world.”—New York Times “This is a young woman’s first book, the story of her own life, and both book and life are unforgettable.”—New York Times “The reader mourns not only the loss of Lucy but the loss one feels when the pages of an enthralling book begin to thin and, as if suddenly, there is no more Harper Perennial: 256 pp to read.”—Wall Street Journal 2003 978-0-06-056966-2 pb, $12.95 ($17.95 Can.)

Harper Perennial: 272 pp. 2005 978-0-06-057215-0 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for Truth & Beauty Resources for Autobiography of a Face Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy NPR Interview with Ann Patchett about Truth & Beauty Video of Lucy Grealy Interview from The Charlie Rose Show

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 11

Oracle Bones R iver Town A Journey Between China’s Past Two Years on the Yangtze and Present Peter Hessler

Peter Hessler • Winner of the Kiriama Pacific Rim Book Prize Oracle Bones tells the story of modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world, as Hessler takes students on an unforgettable seen through the lives of ordinary people who journey to a small village in China where he are connected in one way or another to America. spent two years teaching English. What he It combines soulful story-telling with a discovers while in this remote village is far more journalist’s keen eye for detail resulting in a story than he ever thought possible. This is a very that transcends cultural divides and puts a intimate and human look at a town’s struggle to human face on history as it unfolds today. adapt to the modern world that surrounds it. “Serenely confident, Hessler has a marvel- “Charming and insightful. . . . Poignant- ous sense of the intonations and gestures hilarious. . . . Lively, intelligent. . . . You that give life to the moment. . . . If you will learn a great deal about real life in don’t believe me, dip into the chapters in contemporary China in River Town, and Oracle Bones. . . . You will be hooked.” —New York Times Book Review about how that vast country appears in the eyes of a sensitive, aware, rugged young American who keeps both his eyes Harper Perennial: 528 pp.; index and his mind open.”—New York Times 2007 978-0-06-082659-8 pb $15.95 ($19.95 Can.) Harper Perennial: 432 pp. 2006 978-0-06-085502-4 pb, $14.95 ($16.50 Can.)

Resources for Oracle Bones Resources for River Town Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Peace Corps Interview with Peter Hessler about River Town Official Facebook Page of Peter Hessler Video of Peter Hessler Discussing Oracle Bones at Google

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 12

An American Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Childhood Annie Dillard Annie Dillard • Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer-Prize winning Annie Dillard’s vivid No one really catches the beauty and essence of memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the nature quite like Annie Dillard does in this 1950s is a “vivid and thoughtful evocation extraordinarily crafted reflection on nature and of particular personal experiences that have life. In gorgeous and lyrical prose, Dillard an exuberantly timeless appeal.” (Chicago demonstrates the descriptive and transformative Sun-Times) power of language, rivaled by very few contemporary writers. Harper Perennial: 272 pp. “The book is a form of meditation, 1998 978-0-06-091518-6 pb, $13.95 ($14.95 Can.) written with headlong urgency, about seeing. A reader’s heart must go out to a young writer with a sense of wonder so fearless and unbridled. . . . There is an ambition about her book that I like. . . . It is the ambition to feel.”—Eudora Welty, New York Times Book Review

Harper Perennial: 320 pp. 2007 978-0-06-123332-6 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for An American Childhood Resources for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Annie Dillard’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 13

The Paradox of Choice Animal, Vegetable, Why More Is Less Miracle Barry Schwartz A Year of Food Life

In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Barbara Kingsolver Schwartz shows students how the dramatic explosion in choice has paradoxically become a Renowned for such novels as The Bean Trees and problem instead of a solution, and how our The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver has also written obsession with choice encourages us to seek that several highly acclaimed works of nonfiction. which makes us feel worse. When Barbara Kingsolver and her family moved In doing so, Schwartz, a Dorin Cartwright from suburban Arizona to rural Appalachia, they Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at took on a new challenge: to spend a year on a Swarthmore College, also shows students how locally-produced diet. to write a compelling and well-reasoned “Our highest shopping goal was to get our food argument. from so close to home, we’d know the person “Brilliant. . . . The case Schwartz makes who grew it. Often that turned out to be for a correlation between our emotional ourselves as we learned to produce what we state and what he calls the ‘tyranny of choice’ is compelling, the implications needed, starting with dirt, seeds, and enough knowledge to muddle through. Or starting disturbing. . . . An insightful book.”—Christian Science Monitor with baby animals, and enough sense to refrain from naming them.” Animal, Vegetable, Miracle follows Barbara and her family in their search for another way to Harper Perennial: 304 pp. eat and live. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, and complete with original recipes, 2005 978-0-06-000569-6 pb $13.99 ($18.95 Can.) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life, and diversified farms at the center of the American diet.

Harper Perennial: 400 pp.; illustrated 2008 978-0-06-085256-6 P.S. pb, $14.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for The Paradox of Choice Resources for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Website Barry Schwartz’s Website MySpace Page for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Video of Barry Schwartz Discussing The Paradox of Choice Video of Barbara Kingsolver Reading from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Salon.com Interview with Barbara Kingsolver Eat Local Challenge Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 14

Small Wonder High Tide in Tucson Ess ay Es s ays from Now or Never Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver

Whether Kingsolver is contemplating the Grand In this collection, Kingsolver brings a moral Canyon, her vegetable garden, motherhood, vision and refreshing sense of humor to subjects adolescence, genetic engineering, TV-watching, ranging from modern motherhood to the the history of civil rights, or the future of a history of private property to the suspended nation founded on the best of all human citizenship of human beings in the Animal impulses, these essays are grounded in the Kingdom. author’s belief that our largest problems have “Kingsolver’s essays should be savored like grown from the earth’s remotest corners as well quiet afternoons with a friend. . . . She as our own backyards, and that answers may lie speaks in a language rich with music and in those places, too. replete with good sense.”—New York Times Book Review Harper Perennial: 288 pp. 2003 978-0-06-050408-3 pb $13.95 ($17.95 Can.) Harper Perennial: 304 pp.; illustrated 2003 978-0-06-092756-1 pb, $13.95 ($15.00 Can.)

Resources for Small Wonder Resources for High Tide in Tucson Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Interview on PBS’s Now with Bill Moyers Website with Barbara Kingsolver on Small Wonder

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 15

JO U rn A L i s M The Dead Beat The Portable Obituary Lo o st S uls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Hwt o he Famous, Rich, and Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries Powerful Really Died Marilyn Johnson Michael Largo

Every morning, countless readers of the The Portable Obituary examines revealing details morning papers bypass the front page, neglect about how the deeds, intimate habits, and the sports section, and go directly to the lifestyles—good and bad—of famous people obituary page. It’s not morbid curiosity (or not ultimately influenced their mode of death and, just that) that motivates them. Legions of in due course, determined their role in history obsessive fans turn to the obit page first because and culture. Largo makes clear that life, famous it very often contains the most gripping and or not, can only be fully understood backwards. best-told stories of the day. The true cause of death is often the one omitted detail of history, but in fact reveals the most In The Dead Beat, former Life magazine writer poignant snapshot of an individual’s life. and Esquire editor Marilyn Johnson makes a smart and light-hearted survey of obituary Harper paperbacks: 400 pp. writing, unraveling the cult and culture of 2007 978-00-6123166-7 pb, $14.95 (18.95 Can.) obituaries to consider what our feelings about death—and the way we write about it—tell us about how we live. “[A] fascinating book about the art, history and subculture of obituary writing. . . . [Johnson’s] delight in the subject is unabashed. . . . Johnson’s analysis of the form and its top practitioners is absorbing, [and] her accounts of the culture of obituary lovers is downright amazing.”—New York Times Book Review

Harper Perennial: 272 pp.; 8-page b&w photo insert 2007 978-0-06-075876-9 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for The Dead Beat Resources for The Portable Obituary Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Marilyn Johnson’s Website Michael Largo’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 16

The Best American The Best American Crime Reporting 2009 Science Writing 2009 Jeffrey Toobin, Editor Natalie Angier, Editor Otto Penzler & Thomas H. Cook, Series Editors Jesse Cohen, Series Editor

Praised as “arresting reading” (People) and the “It is rare to be offered such a diverse collection best mix of “the political, the macabre, and the of science writing” (Nature). Provocative and downright brilliant” (Entertainment Weekly), The engaging, The Best American Science Writing 2009 Best American Crime Reporting 2009 features as covers the full spectrum of scientific inquiry- editor Jeffrey Toobin, the bestselling author, from biochemistry, physics, and astronomy, to Emmy Award-winner, staff writer for The New genetics, evolutionary theory, and cognition. Yorker, and senior legal analyst for CNN. A Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling collection of the year’s best true crime writing, author and New York Times science writer this edition continues in the tradition of the Natalie Angier, this ninth edition in the series series as another phenomenal collection of the features articles from a wide variety of publica- most compelling stories from some of the tions, providing a comprehensive overview of masters of true crime on everything from fraud the year’s most compelling, relevant, and to murder, theft to madness. exciting scientific developments. “As sad and spooky as a short story by Joyce Carol Oates. . . . More chilling, and “Provides an engaging and educational overview of science reporting.” believable, than a novel by Bret Easton Ellis.”—Wall Street Journal —Science News

Ecco: 368 pp. Ecco: 336 pp. 2009 978-0-06-149084-2 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) 2009 978-0-06-143166-1 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.)

Resources for The Best American Crime Reporting 2009 Resources for The Best American Science Writing 2009 Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 17

The Breaks of the Paper Trails Game T rue Stories of Confusion, Mindless Violence, and Forbidden David Halberstam Desires, a Surprising Number of Which Are Not About Marriage David Halberstam’s groundbreaking The Breaks Pete Dexter of the Game set the standard for sports journalism. Edited by Rob Fleder It focuses on one grim season (1979–80) in the life of the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that Here, for the first time, are the finest columns only three years before had been National from Pete Dexter of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Basketball Association champions. “Dexter may be the best ever at conveying Halberstam follows this collection of men mood. . . . Even two decades later, through the months, through the losing streaks Dexter’s writing holds up.”—New York and occasional victories, the endless trips and Times Book Review the brutal schedules. The authenticity of Halberstam’s knowledge of the basketball world Ecco: 320 pp. is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far 2007 978-0-06-118935-7 hc, $25.95 ($27.95 Can.) more than just basketball—the influence of big media, the clash of ethics, and the conflicts of race and class—which makes this book a must-read for those pursuing a career in journalism. “One of the best books I’ve ever read about American sports!” — Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

Hyperion: 416 pp. 2009 978-1-40-130972-5 pb, $15.99 (N/C)

Resources for The Breaks of the Game Resources for Paper Trails Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy New York Times Review of The Breaks of the Game Order an Examination Copy Review of Paper Trails from the New York Times Book Review

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 18

A Death in Belmont Dispatches from Sebastian Junger the Edge A Memoir of War, Disasters, Sebastain Junger examines the fatal collision of and Survival three lives during the Boston Strangler murder With a New Afterword case. Anderson Cooper “Junger’s clear, beautifully reasonable writing is the literary equivalent of From one of America’s leading reporters comes night-vision goggles. . . . He’s navigating a an extraordinarily powerful look at the most maze of shadows, and you can see all the volatile crises he has witnessed around the world, more clearly what an enormously skillful from New Orleans to Baghdad and beyond. prose artist he is. . . . Junger entrances the reader by picking out small details that “His vignettes from the world’s give the events he’s describing an enthrall- horrorscapes rise above the swagger of ing vividness and resonance and clarity.” many journalistic memoirs because —Time magazine Cooper writes with competence as well as feeling. . . . Intriguing.”— Harper Perennial: 304 pp. Washington Post Book World 2007 978-0-06-074269-0 P.S. pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.) Harper paperbacks: 240 pp.; 8-page color photo insert Also from Sebastian Junger 2007 978-0-06-113668-9 pb, $13.95 ($17.50 Can.) Th e Perfect Storm A True Story of Men Against the Sea Harper Perennial: 272 pp. 2007 978-0-06-114846-0 P.S. pb, $13.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for A Death in Belmont Resources for Dispatches from the Edge Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Video of Sebastian Junger Speaking About A Death in Belmont Anderson Cooper’s AC 360º CNN.com Blog Resources for The Perfect Storm Follow Anderson Cooper on Twitter Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Website for The Perfect Storm Foundation

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 19

In the Hot Zone Bias One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars AS CB Insider Exposes How the Kevin Sites Media Distort the News With a New Introduction by the As Yahoo!’s first news correspondent, Kevin Sites Author spent the last year covering every major global Bernard Goldberg conflict for “Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone” on Yahoo! News. These areas of conflict are “This insider’s account of Mr. Goldberg’s typically left uncovered or under-reported by career at CBS is filled with so many mainstream news organizations. Sites bravely stories of repulsive elitism and prejudice visited each one, often without help of any kind, on the part of his peers that it elevates and this book delves further into the stories Bias to must-read status. . . . His case is behind Sites’ adventures. airtight.”—Wall Street Journal

Harper Perennial: 368 pp, Harper paperbacks: 256 pp. 2007 978-0-06-122875-9 pb $15.95 ($18.95 Can.) 2003 978-0-06-052084-7 pb $13.95 ($16.50 Can.)

Resources for In the Hot Zone Resources for Bias Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Kevin Sites’s Website Bernard Goldberg’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 20

CE R AT ive W R i t i n g “A Problem from Hell” Reading Like a Writer A americ and the Age of Genocide A Guide for People Who Love Books Samantha Power and for Those Who Want to Write Them Drawing on classified cables, private papers, Francine Prose exclusive interviews with Washington’s top policy-makers, and her own reporting from the Long before there were creative-writing modern killing fields, Samantha Power tells the workshops and degrees, how did aspiring writers story of both American courage and indiffer- learn to write? By reading the work of their ence in the face of some of the worst massacres predecessors and contemporaries, says Francine of the 20th century. Prose. “Samantha Power has written one of those A must for creative writing classes, Reading Like rare books that is truly as important as its a Writer promises to do just as its subtitle subject.”—Philip Gourevitch, author of We indicates. Prose will take your students through Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be excerpts of many of the world’s greatest literary Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda works, pointing out the tricks of great writers such as Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Austen, Harper Perennial: 688 pp.; index Dickens, Woolf, and Chekhov. She cautions students to slow down and pay attention to 2007 978-0-06-112014-5 P.S. pb $17.95 ($22.95 Can.) words, the raw material out of which literature is crafted. “The passages are . . . subtle and brilliant in their capture of human complexity . . . Prose is . . . a skilled . . . analyst of what makes them so.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Harper Perennial: 320 pp. 2007 978-00-6077705-0 P.S. pb, $13.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for “A Problem from Hell” Resources for Reading Like a Writer Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Samantha Power’s Blog Video of Francine Prose Speaking About Reading Like a Writer Video of Samantha Power Speaking About Genocide

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 21

How to Read Literature How to Read Novels Like a Professor Like a Professor A Lively and Entertaining Guide to A Jaunty Exploration of the Reading Between the Lines World’s Favorite Literary Form Thomas C. Foster Thomas C. Foster

What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a Out of all literary forms, the novel is arguably journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a the most discussed—and the most fretted over sudden rain shower? Many students only skim by students. In his follow-up to the wildly the surface of a novel, not realizing that there is successful How to Read Literature Like a Professor, much more going on between the lines. Thomas C. Foster provides a lively and entertaining guide to understanding and Through this lively and entertaining guide to dissecting novels, showing students how to make literature, your students will start to get more the everyday reading experience more enriching, out of reading simply be learning to read satisfying, and fun. literature through the eyes of the ultimate professional reader­, you, the college professor. Harper paperbacks: 304 pp. Written by Thomas C. Foster, professor of English at the University of Michigan, Flint, How 2008 978-0-06-134040-6 pb, $13.95 ($14.95 Can.) to Read Literature Like a Professor will unlock many of the truths hidden in great literature. From major themes such as changing seasons, quests, sex, and geography, to literary models such as Shakespeare and the Bible, How to Read literature Like a Professor will give your students a broad overview of literature, helping to make reading more rewarding, enriching, and fun.

Harper paperbacks: 336 pages; index 2003 978-00-6000942-7 pb, $13.99 ($18.99 Can.)

Resources for How to Read Literature Like a Professor Resources for How to Read Novels Like a Professor Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 22

Not Quite What I Was The Creative License Planning G iving Yourself Permission to Be The Artist You Truly Are S ix-Word Memoirs by Writers Danny Gregory Famous and Obscure Edited by Smith Magazine The Creative License offers readers, students, and aspiring writers a way to reconnect to their own Not Quite What I Was Planning is a fascinating, creative energies, develop their artistic side, and addictively compelling collection of six-word become comfortable with the creative process. memoirs that alternately humorous, sad, and When Danny Gregory’s life was turned upside strange, from writers both famous (Joyce Carol down by tragedy, he learned to cope by teaching Oates, Dave Eggers, Sebastian Junger) and himself to draw. The result was a complete obscure. From bittersweet romance to gratifying transformation of his life, his priorities, his career, divorce (“Found true love, married someone and the way he saw the world. In handwritten else”), proud achievement to stinging regret chapters full of his lush watercolor illustrations, he gently instructs us in the art of allowing (“Never really finished anything, except cake”), ourselves to fail, giving up the expectation of perfection and opening our eyes to the beauty these true tales tell the diversity of human around us. We’re given permission to express ourselves fully and take part in the creative experience in relatable, bite-sized pieces and are the perfect creative inspiration to get your process without fear. students to write their own six-word memoirs. Readers and writers of all stripes will find inspiration in this unique and beautiful book. Harper Perennial: 240 pp.; 32 b&w illustrations throughout; index. 2008 978-0-06-137405-0 pb; $12.00 ($13.00 Can.) Hyperion: 208 pp.; illustrations. 2006 978-1-40-130792-9 pb, $16.00 ($17.25 Can.) Also Available: S ix-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak Harper Perennial: 144 pp. 2008 978-0-06-171462-7 pb; $10.00 ($12.00 Can.)

Resources for Not Quite What I Was Planning Resources for The Creative License Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Danny Gregory’s Website Smith Magazine Website

Resources for Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 23

Y ou’ve Got to Read Who’s Writing This? This Book! F ifty-Five Writers on Humor, Courage, Self-Loathing, and the 55p Peo le Talk About the Book That Creative Process Changed Their Life Edited by Daniel Halpern Edited by Jack Canfield & Gay Hendricks Now back in print, in Who’s Writing This?, Some of today’s most interesting and prominent editor Daniel Halpern asks numerous writers to people share the books that have been transfor- muse briefly on “the fictional persona ‘behind mational to them, and why. Students will the scenes,’” the alter ego that accompanies encounter well-known names such as Malachy creation. Fifty-five well-known authors—such McCourt, Christiane Northrup, M.D., Dave as Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, William Gass, Barry, Stephen Covey, Mark Victor Hansen, and Czeslaw Milosz, James Michener, Joyce Carol John Grey, among others, as well as Canfield and Oates, and Cynthia Oziick—contributed their Hendricks themselves. interpretations of this idea, along with a whimsi- These essays will inspire, inform, and motivate cal self-portrait. The essays are mostly one- to students to recall and pursue their own two- page snapshots and vary widely as to transforming experiences with books, charting a approach. Edward Gorey cleverly anagrams his path to a more resonant life. name into those of characters, such as Ogdred Weary. Susan Sontag recalls her longtime disavowal of her work and finally comes to feel that “the writer is me: not my double” and “A fascinating collection of stories about the undisputedly transformative power of thus she is “both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster.” reading. . . . This must-read is sure to provide inspiration, motivation, and a spring- board for discussion among book people and book clubs everywhere.”—Booklist Harper Perennial: 208 pp. 2009 978-0-06-178222-0 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) Harper paperbacks: 304 pp. 2007 978-0-06-089175-6 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for You’ve Got to Read This Book! Resources for Who’s Writing This? Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 24

The Curtain Testaments Betrayed Ans Es ay in Seven Parts Ans Es ay in Nine Parts Milan Kundera Milan Kundera

In this brilliant exploration of the novel, one of Kundera defends the moral rights of the artist the genre’s most distinguished practitioners and the respect due to a work of art and its sketches out his views on the art of the novel creator’s wishes. and its importance to Western Civilization. “A defense of fiction and a lesson in the According to Kundera, the real work of a novel art of reading.”—New York Times Book is not bound up in the specifics of any one Review language: what makes a novel matter is its ability to reveal some previously unknown aspect of Harper Perennial: 288 pp. 1996 978-0-06-092751-6 pb $13.95 ($16.50 Can.) our existence. In The Curtain, Kundera skillfully describes how the best novels do just that. “Not since Henry James, perhaps, has a fiction writer examined the process of writing with such insight.”—New York Times Book Review

Harper Perennial: 176 pages 2008 978-0-06-084195-9 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.)

Resources for The Curtain Resources for Testaments Betrayed Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy New York Times Book Review of The Curtain New York Times Review of Testaments Betrayed

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 25

The Art of the Novel Agnès’s Final Afternoon Milan Kundera Ans Es ay on the Work of Milan Kundera Kundera brilliantly examines the work of such François Ricard important and diverse figures as Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Diderot, Flaubert, Tolstoy, and “An imaginative literary essay . . . lithe and Musil, Broch, and Kafka. His discussion of his perceptive . . . François Ricard probes the own work includes his views on the role of thematic unities and formal innovations of historical events in fiction, the meaning of Kundera’s novels to discover the essen- action, and the creation of character in the tial.”—New York Times Book Review post-psychological novel. Harper Perennial: 224 pp. “The book has its author’s familiar 2004 978-0-06-000565-8 pb, $13.95 ($18.95 Can.) swiftness and variety of attack and his elegant, provocative irony.”—The New Yorker

Harper Perennial: 176 pp. 2003 978-0-06-009374-7 pb, $12.95 ($19.95 Can.)

Resources for The Art of the Novel Resources for Agnès’s Final Afternoon Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 26

Understanding Comics Making Comics Th e Invisible Art S torytelling Secrets of Comics, Scott McCloud Manga, and Graphic Novels Scott McCloud “Arguably the most important cartoonist alive.” —Locust magazine “Every medium should be lucky enough to have a taxonomist as brilliant as In 1994 Scott McCloud tore down the wall McCloud. The follow-up to his pioneering between high and low culture with Understand- Understanding Comics . . . isn’t really about ing Comics, a comic book about comics, linking how to draw comics: it’s about how to the medium to such diverse fields as media make drawings become a story and how theory, movie criticism, and web design. Since cartooning choices communicate meaning its publication, Understanding Comics has found a to readers. (‘There are no rules,’ he says, place in all sorts of college courses—from ‘and here they are.’)—Publishers Weekly composition and the art of narrative, to graphic (starred review) design. With McCloud as their guide, students will unravel the secrets of telling a story—and they’ll

see how each step along the way is filled with possible pitfalls and artistic possibilities. Harper paperbacks: 272 pages; illustrated throughout; index “In one lucid, well-designed chapter after another, [McCloud] guides us through 2006 978-0-06-078094-4 pb, $22.95 ($28.95 Can.) the elements of comics style, and . . . how words combine with pictures to work Also from Scott McCloud: their singular magic. When the 215-page journey is finally over, most readers will R einventing Comics find it difficult to look at comics in quite the same way ever again.” — How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form Gary Trudeau, New York Times Book Review Harper paperbacks: 256 pp. 2000 978-0-06-095350-8 pb, $22.95 ($28.95 Can.) Harper paperbacks: 224 pp; illustrated throughout 1994 978-00-6097625-5 pb, $22.99 ($26.95 Can.)

Resources for Understanding Comics Resources for Making Comics Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Scott McCloud’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 27

The New Lifetime How Not to Write Reading Plan a Novel Th e Classical Guide to World 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Literature, Revised and Expanded Avoid Them—A Misstep-by-Misstep Clifton Fadiman & John S. Major Guide Howard Mittelmark & Sandra Newman In chronological sections, the authors provide students with brief and informative introduc- Despite the abundance of writing how-to books, tions to more than 130 classics of world unpublished writers seem to repeat the same literature—from Brontë to Confucius, Homer mistakes again and again, from making their to Hawthorne, Plato to Pascal, and Solzhenitsyn protagonists into cooler versions of themselves to Sun-Tzu. to describing a character preparing and eating breakfast—for fifteen pages. Unlike most Collins Reference: 400 pp. writing books, How Not to Write a Novel is not a 1999 978-0-06-272073-3 pb, $15.99 ($19.99 Can.) point-by-point plot formula for success. Instead, by using humor combined with straightforward advice, this guide provides expert trouble-shoot- ing that can be immediately put into practice to get any manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstores.

Harper paperbacks: 272 pp.; index. 2008 978-0-06-135795-4 pb, $15.95 ($17.25 Can.)

Resources for The New Lifetime Reading Plan Resources for How Not to Write a Novel Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy How Not to Write a Novel Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 28

Write Away Escaping into the Open Oneo N velist’s Approach to Fiction Th e Art of Writing True and the Writing Life Elizabeth Berg Elizabeth George For the beginning wordsmith, Berg provides What better way to experience the fiction guidance and concrete suggestions for getting writing process, than first-hand, with a New York started. She outlines the fifteen essential ‘P’s of Times best-selling author? writing—from purpose and perseverance to priorities and patience, to playfulness and pens, Elizabeth George has spent years teaching pencils, and paper—and shares the ways she uses writing, and she’s created a clear, intelligent, and these to make the writing process as painless and functional guide to constructing a good novel, joyous as possible. using excerpts from her own and other writers’ work. “This is a really good book . . . anyone who ever needs to write anything will find Harper paperbacks: 288 pp; index. bright shards of useful stuff here.” 2005 978-0-06-056044-7 pb, $13.95 ($17.50 Can.) —Booklist

Harper Perennial: 240 pp. 2000 978-0-06-092929-9 pb $12.00 ($14.00 Can.)

Resources for Write Away Resources for Escaping into the Open Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Elizabeth Berg’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 29

The Faith of a Writer The Journal of Joyce Joyce Carol Oates Carol Oates 1973–1982 Discussing subjects most important to the narrative craft, Joyce Carol Oates touches on Joyce Carol Oates topics such as inspiration, memory, self-criticism, and “the unique power of the unconscious.” The revealing and fascinating personal journals Oates claims that “inspiration and energy and of Joyce Carol Oates from one of the most even genius are rarely enough to make ‘art’: for important and productive periods of her long prose fiction is also a craft, and craft must be career create a portrait of the artist as a young learned, whether by accident of design.” woman, fully engaged with her world and her culture, a writer who paradoxically fancied “Who better than Joyce Carol Oates . . . to herself “invisible” but who was quickly explicate the craft of writing?” becoming one of the most respected, discussed, —New York Times Book Review and controversial figures in American letters.

Harper Perennial: 176 pp. Harper Perennial: 544 pp.; index 2004 978-0-06-056554-1 pb, $11.95 ($13.95 Can.) 2008 978-0-06-122799-8 pb, $16.95 ($18.50 Can.)

Resources for The Faith of a Writer Resources for The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Celestial Timepiece: A Joyce Carol Oates Home Page Papers of Joyce Carol Oates at Syracuse University Tavis Smiley Interview with Joyce Carol Oates

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 30

Uncensored: Fiction Writer’s Views & (Re)views Handbook Joyce Carol Oates Hallie & Whit Burnett Introduction by Norman Mailer Oates brings together thirty-seven diverse and provocative pieces from The New York Review of This book offers practical advice on every aspect Books, The Times Literary Supplement, and the New of writing novels and short stories, including York Times Book Review. Through these balanced plotting and narrative development, character- and illuminating essays, we see Oates at the top ization and dialogue, sources of material, of her form, engaged with forebears and planning an opening, roughing out chapters, contemporaries, providing clues to her own using suspense and emotional color, rewriting creative process. and highlighting, and much more. Examples from the works of outstanding writers, past and “The pervasive suspicion that serious present, illustrate each point. reading is becoming a marginal pursuit contributes to the anxious, timid, Collins Reference: 224 pp. supportive tone of what passes for literary 1993 978-0-06273169-2 pb, $13.00 ($15.00 Can.) criticism these days, and the timorousness of the enterprise is part of what makes Oates’s robust, painstaking, and self-assured essays both exemplary and somewhat anomalous. . . . Uncensored provides ample instruction and welcome provocation.” —New York Times Book Review

Harper Perennial: 384 pp. 2006 978-0-06-077557-5 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.)

Resources for Uncensored: Views & Reviews Resources for Fiction Writer’s Handbook Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 31

Living By Fiction The Writing Life Annie Dillard Annie Dillard The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Living By Fiction is written for—and dedicated Pilgrim at Tinker Creek illuminates what the to—people who love literature. Dealing with writing process has been like for her. writers such as Nabokov, Barth, Coover, “For nonwriters, it is a glimpse into the Pynchon, Borges, Garcia Màrquez, Beckett, and trials and satisfactions of a life spent with Calvino, Dillard shows why fiction matters and words. For writers, it is a warm, rambling, how it can reveal more of the modern world conversation with a stimulating and and modern thinking than all the academic extraordinarily talented colleague.” sciences combined. —Chicago Tribune Harper Perennial: 192 pp. 2000 978-0-06-091544-5 pb, $13.95 ($15.00 Can.) Harper Perennial: 128 pp. 1999 978-0-06-091988-7 pb, $11.95 ($12.95 Can.)

Resources for Living By Fiction Resources for The Writing Life Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 32

Self-Editing for Writing Past Dark Fiction Writers E nvy, Fear, Distraction and Other Dilemmas in the Writer’s Life Hwt o o Edit Yourself Into Print Bonnie Friedman Second Edition Renni Browne & Dave King A writer’s companion geared toward exploring the emotional side of writing. The book deals Browne and King take students through the with everything from envy to guilt, to the same processes an editor uses to perfect a piece dreaded writer’s block. of work. This edition includes detailed chapters on exposition, character description, point of “A wonderfully wise guide to integrating view, dialogue, and interior monologue, as well the terrors of the creative process with the as helpful exercises and checklists at the end of work and art of living a life. I will insist each chapter. my students read it.”—Robb Forman Dew

Harper paperbacks: 160 pp. Harper paperbacks: 288 pp.; line drawings; index. 1994 978-0-06-092200-9 pb, $12.99 ($16.50 Can.) 2004 978-0-06-054569-7 pb, $13.99 ($17.99 Can.)

Resources for Self-Editing for Fiction Writers Resources for Writing Past Dark Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 33

Fruitflesh Walking on Alligators S eeds of Inspiration for Women Aoo B k of Meditations for Writers Who Write Susan Shaughnessy Gayle Brandeis In this “nifty handbook of useful and enduring Award-winning author and poet Brandeis advice that writers should keep right by the presents the perfect blend of meditations and keyboard,” (San Francisco Chronicle), Shaughnessy writing exercises to inspire women to tap into combines quotes from experienced writers their creative center. including Anne Rice, Art Spiegelman, Diane Ackerman, Scott Turow, Toni Morrison, Vaclav “What a sensual book! Anyone immersing Havel and Camille Paglia—along with her own herself in Fruitflesh is sure to find her carefully considered ideas about the craft of writing liberated, and enriched by the writing. many stimulating exercises.”—Susan Perry, Ph.D., author of Writing in Flow HarperOne: 224 pp. 1993 978-0-06-250758-7 pb, $14.99 ($18.95 Can.) HarperOne: 224 pp. 2004 978-0-06-058718-5 pb, $14.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for Fruitflesh Resources for Walking on Alligators Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Gayle Brandeis’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 34

Spider, Spin Me a Web Telling Lies for Fun & A Handbook for Fiction Writers Profit Lawrence Block Au Man al for Fiction Writers

Now, with Lawrence Block’s expert advice, Lawrence Block students can learn the art of entrapping the Introduction by Sue Grafton reader in a maze of fascinating fiction. This book includes techniques to help students increase From studying the market to mastering their creativity, develop an environment that self-discipline and “creative procrastination,” and nourishes them and their craft, and to write a through coping with rejections, two-time Edgar solid piece of fiction that will get a reader (or Award-winning novelist Lawrence Block gives editor) to read—and buy—their books. anyone serious about writing an invaluable sourcebook of information. “One of the best writers now working the beat.”—The Wall Street Journal “I would urge writers, at whatever point in their careers, to take the time to read this Harper paperbacks: 256 pp. indispensable handbook.”—Sue Grafton, 1996 978-0-688-14690-0 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.) from the Introduction

Harper paperbacks: 256 pp. 1994 978-0-68-813228-6 pb, $13.00 ($16.50 Can.)

Resources for Spider, Spin Me a Web Resources for Telling Lies for Fun & Profit Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Lawrence Block’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 35

How to Write Writing on Both Sides Advi ce and Reflections of the Brain Richard Rhodes Betr ak hrough Techniques for People Who Write Uniquely fusing practical advice on writing with his own insights into the craft, Pulitzer Henriette Anne Klauser Ph.D. Prize-winning author Rhodes constructs beautiful prose about the issues writers are most The creator and owner of Writing Resource afraid to articulate: How do I dare write? Where Workshops presents a revolutionary approach to do I begin? What do I do with this story I have writing that teaches students how to express to tell? themselves fluently and confidently. “How generous [Rhodes] is with his “Wonderful . . . not only charming, but mind and his heart. Buy this book, buy it. powerfully enabling and genuinely helpful It’s a handbook on how to live.” to my writing students. . . . The author —The Washington Post makes the material not only accessible and palatable, but a pleasure as well.” Harper paperbacks: 240 pp. — Dr. William Zeiger 1996 978-0-688-14948-2 pb, $14.95 ($17.50 Can.) HarperOne: 160 pp. 1987 978-0-06-254490-2 pb, $15.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for How to Write Resources for Writing on Both Sides of the Brain Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy Richard Rhodes’s Website Order an Examination Copy Henriette Anne Klauser’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 36

What If? The Notebooks of Writing Exercises for Fiction Raymond Chandler Writers Raymond Chandler Anne Bernays & Pamela Painter Filled with both public and private writings, Each of the nearly 75 exercises in What If? teach these pages give students an intimate view of a skill or concept that will help students with the writer at work and contain early ideas, the technical fundamentals of writing fiction. descriptions, and anecdotes later used in such The award-winning authors deal with such classics as The Long Goodbye and The Blue Dahlia. topics as discovering where to start and end a story, learning when to use dialogue and when Harper Perennial: 128 pp. to use indirect discourse, creating characters, 2007 9780061227448 pb $13.95 ($17.99/CAN) transforming real events into fiction, and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. A sample of exercises from What If? includes: First Sentences: Beginning in the Middle • What Do Your Characters Want? • Journal Keeping for Writers • Speech Flavor, or Sounding Real • Magnifying Conflict • Five Different Versions: And One Is a Lie • The Inner Life of Characters • Not Quite a Fight • Imitation: Sincere Flattery—and Learning • With Revision Comes Final Meaning

Harper paperbacks: 256 pp. 1991 978-0-06-272006-1 pb, $13.99 ($17.99 Can.)

Resources for What If? Resources for The Notebooks of Raymond Chandler Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy The Raymond Chandler Website Raymond Chandler Guided Bus Tours Through Los Angeles

We have so many wonderful novels and collections of short stories that we couldn’t possibly list them all here. Visit www.HarperAcademic.com to sign up for our quarterly Literature e-bulletin for professors. We’ll let you know what is new, and we’ll remind you about important titles from our backlist.

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 37

T h e P o s t S e c r e t P ro j e c t PostSecret E oxtra rdinary Confessions Frank Warren is the founder and curator of the PostSecret Project. For the project, which From Ordinary Lives was started in October 2004, Warren asked people to write a secret they had never told Frank Warren anyone on a handmade postcard and mail it to him. The response was overwhelming, and the cards are astonishing in their honesty and creativity. Now spanning four volumes, these William Morrow: 288 pp. cards each bear an intimate, powerful, or sometimes even chilling sentiment, told through 2005 978-00-6089919-6 hc, $28.99 ($36.99 Can.) handmade illustrations, photographs, collages, and other creative means. Writing teachers use these postcards as “writing prompts.” They’ve discovered that showing My Secret their students a postcard—and asking the to write a story about it—works well as both a class and homework assignment. At Pos Secret Book “They [the postcards] are mini-works of art. Some are heartbreaking, some are Frank Warren hilarious, some are touching or thought-provoking or shocking or silly or William Morrow: 144 pp. repulsive. All of them are riveting. . . . PostSecret seems to prove three (at least) 2006 978-00-6119668-3 hc, $21.99 ($27.99 Can.) things: Lots of ordinary Americans are artistic, lots of them are poetic, and lots of them have something to hide.” —USA Today The Secret Lives of Men and Women At Pos Secret Book Frank Warren

William Morrow: 144 pp. 2007 978-00-6119875-5 hc, $21.99 ($27.99 Can.)

A Lifetime of Secrets At Pos Secret Book Resources for the PostSecret books Frank Warren

Browse Inside PostSecret William Morrow: 288 pp. Browse Inside My Secret 2007 978-0-06-123860-4 hc, $28.99 ($31.99 Can.) Browse Inside The Secret Lives of Men and Women Browse Inside A Lifetime of Secrets Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy PostSecret Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 38

P O etry The Art of Reading Nine Gates Poetry E ntering the Mind of Poetry Jane Hirshfield Harold Bloom Poet Jane Hirshfield illuminates the craft and Writer and scholar Harold Bloom gives students mind of poetry, from the work of anonymous an elegant guide to reading poetry—a master Egyptian love poets to that of Rilke, Dickinson, critic’s distillation of a lifetime of teaching and Yeats, and Ginsberg. criticism. Bloom tackles such subjects as poetic voice, the nature of metaphor and allusion, and “Rare and fine: a collection of essays the nature of poetic value itself. Bloom writes combining the richness of a daybook with that “the work of great poetry is to aid us to the pointed quality of a good lecture.”— become free artists of ourselves.” Robert Pinsky

This edition also includes a recommended Harper Perennial: 240 pp. reading list of poems. 1998 978-0-06-092948-0 pb, $13.00 ($15.00 Can.)

Harper Perennial: 96 pp. 2005 978-00-607966-6 pb, $9.95 ($11.95 Can.)

Also by Harold Bloom: T he Best Poems of the English Language From Chaucer Through Frost Harper Perennial: 1008 pp.; index 2007 978-00-6054042-5 pb, $19.95 ($24.95 Can.)

Resources for The Art of Reading Poetry Resources for Nine Gates Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Link to Harold Bloom Podcast Seminar on Reading the Interview with Jane Hirshfield in The Atlantic Wallace Stevens Poem, Parts of a World Jane Hirshfield Video: An Afternoon with the Poet

Resources for The Best Poems of the English Language Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 39

The Poetry Handbook The New Ai Dict onary of Terms Comprehensive Fourth Edition Babette Deutsch American Rhyming Dictionary “A much-needed work, splendidly done: the definitions are clear, the illustrations Sue Young apt; what is more, it is a pleasure to read for its own sake, and so belongs to the Containing over 65,000 words, phrases, and aristocracy of reference books.”—Richard colloquialisms, this book is a goldmine of Wilbur rhymes certain to aid and delight everyone who works with language, from the amateur poet to Harper Perennial: 224 pp. the professional wordsmith. 2009 978-0-06-463548-6 pb, $14.00 ($17.50 Can.) Collins Reference: 624 pp. 1991 978-0-380-71392-9 pb $14.99 ($18.99 Can.)

Resources for The Poetry Handbook Resources for The New Comprehensive American Rhyming Dictionary Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy The Poetry Foundation Biography of Babette Deutsch Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 40

The Essential Haiku The Poet’s Dictionary V ersions of Bashõ, Buson, & Issa A Handbook of Prosody and Poetic Edited by Robert Hass Devices William Packard Here is a wonderful collection that is filled with classic examples to discuss with your students Arranged alphabetically, The Poet’s Dictionary before you ask them to write a haiku. defines more than 100 tools, terms and techniques of writing poetry, illustrating them Ecco: 352 pp. through examples from many classic and 1995 978-0-88-001351-2 pb, $16.00 ($19.00 Can.) modern poets.

Collins Reference: 240 pp. 1994 978-0-06-272045-0 pb $15.00 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for The Essential Haiku Resources for The Poet’s Dictionary Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy Haiku Website Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 41

New Rhyming Wishes, Lies, and Dictionary and Poet’s Dreams Handbook Tch ea ing Children to Write Poetry Kenneth Koch & Ron Padgett Burges Johnson Long considered a classic in its field, Koch’s This dictionary brings thousands of rhyming book is a vivid account of a poet’s experience words to the writer’s fingertips, and the teaching Manhattan school children to write handbook section provides definitions and verse. Koch describes his inventive methods and examples of rhyming patterns and poetic cites numerous examples of the children’s structure. works—thus providing a valuable handbook.

Collins Reference: 480 pp. Harper paperbacks: 336 pp.; illustrated throughout. 1991 978-0-06-272014-6 pb $17.95 ($22.95 Can.) 2000 978-0-06-095509-0 pb, $13.95 ($17.95 Can.)

Resources for New Rhyming Dictionary and Poet’s Resources for Wishes, Lies, and Dreams Handbook Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy The Poetry Foundation Biography of Kenneth Koch Order an Examination Copy Ron Padgett’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 42

The Practice of Poetry The Collected Poetry of Writing Exercises from Poets Who Nikki Giovanni Teach 1968–1998 Robin Behn & Chase Twichell Nikki Giovanni The Practice of Poetry combines over 90 tested and Introduction by Virginia C. Fowler proven poetry-writing exercises with an illuminating personal essay by each contributor. When Nikki Giovanni’s poems first emerged For those enrolled in a creative writing program, during the Black Arts Movement, she immedi- or for those working on their own, the exercises ately took a place among the most celebrated are designed to help stimulate the imagination and controversial poets of the era. Now, more and increase technical flexibility and control. than forty years later, Nikki Giovanni still stands as one of the most commanding, luminous Among the contributors are: Rita Dove, Maxine voices to grace America’s political and poetic Kumin, David St. John, Lee Upton, Jack Myers, landscape. Professors tell us that she is often Daniel Halpern, Alicia Ostriker, Stephen Dunn, cited as one of their students’ favorite poets. Donald Justice, Roland Flint, Pamela Alexander, and Richard Jackson. The first of its kind, this omnibus covers Nikki Giovanni’s complete work of poetry from Harper paperbacks: 320 pp. 1968–1998 and includes the complete volumes of five adult books of poetry: Black Feeling 1992 978-0-06-273024-4 pb $16.99 ($21.99 Can.) Black Talk/Black Judgement, My House, The Women and the Men, Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, and Those Who Ride the Night Winds.

Harper Perennial Modern Classics: 512 pp.; index 2007 P.S. 978-0-06-072429-0 pb, $15.99 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for The Practice of Poetry Resources for The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Nikki Giovanni’s Website Video of Nikki Giovanni Speaking at the Virginia Tech Memorial Convocation

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 43

Ariel: The Restored Howl Edition Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript, and Variant Versions, A i FACs mile of Plath’s Manuscript, Fully Annotated by Author, Reinstating Her Original with Contemporaneous Selection and Arrangement Correspondence, Account of First Sylvia Plath Public Reading, Legal Skirmishes, Foreword by Frieda Hughes Precursor Texts, and Bibliography Allen Ginsberg This facsimile edition restores Plath’s own prepared collection of Ariel, reinstating her Originally published in 1956, this annotated original selection and arrangement, and includes edition of the prophetic masterpiece that broke a P.S. section which includes important facts and new ground in American poetry through its documents about the book and author. expansive form, tonal range, and freshness of “The publication of this ‘other’ Ariel will spirit allows students to see Ginsberg’s composition process unfold. no doubt sustain the Hughes/Plath “Taken all together, Ginsberg’s poems controversy for years to come, but we can are x-rays of a considerable part of American society during the last four be grateful for the insights provided by decades.”—The New Yorker this restored edition.”—Library Journal Harper Perennial: 208 pp. Harper Perennial Modern Classics: 256 pp.; illustrated 2006 978-0-06-113745-7 pb, $18.95 ($23.95 Can.) 2005 P.S. 978-0-06-073260-8 pb $13.95 (N/C)

Resources for Ariel: The Restored Edition Resources for Howl Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Allen Ginsberg’s Website Slate.com on Ariel: The Restored Edition Video Images of Allen Ginsberg with Ginsberg Reciting Howl

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 44

S C R een W R i t i n g Story New S tyle, Structure, Substance, and T ales from the Script the Principles of Screenwriting Peter Hanson & Paul Robert Herman Robert McKee Few modern art forms are as misunderstood as Robert McKee’s screenwriting workshops have the craft of creating movie scripts, because the earned him an international reputation for collaborative nature of filmmaking and the inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and dominance of celebrity actors and directors putting major screenwriting careers back on obscure the contributions of screenwriters. If track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria your students are eager to break into the Steinem, Julia Roberts, and John Cleese are just Hollywood, Tales from the Script will provide a few of his celebrity alumni, and writers, insights into the wild, mysterious, and competi- producers, development executives and agents tive world of screenwriting. More than 50 all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a legendary screenwriters were exclusively mesmerizing and intense learning experience. interviewed, including Shane Black (Lethal In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he Weapon), John Carpenter (Halloween), Frank teaches in his seminars, providing students with Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), Nora the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen. Ephron (When Harry Met Sally), William Goldman (The Princess Bride), David Hayter “McKee is the Stanislavski of writing.”—Dennis Dugan, Actor/Writer, NYPD (Watchmen), Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost), Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver), and Ron Shelton (Bull Blue, The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues Durham). The stories behind the storytellers are as exciting, surprising, and inspirational as the narratives of their celebrated films. It! Books: 480 pp.; photos; index. 1997 978-0-06-039168-3 hc, $35.00 ($43.95 Can.) It! Books: 304 pp. 2010 978-0-06-185592-4 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) HarperAudio; Abridged; 5 CDs; 6 hours. Available in January 2010 1997 978-0-06-085618-2 CD, $29.95 ($39.95 Can.)

Resources for Story Resources for Tales from the Script Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Robert McKee’s Website

We have so many wonderful poetry collections that we couldn’t possibly list them all here. Visit www.HarperAcademic.com to sign up for our quarterly Literature e-bulletin for professors. We’ll let you know what is new, and we’ll remind you about important titles from our backlist.

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 45

Writing the Romantic Screen Plays Comedy Hw o 25 Scripts Made It to a Theater Near You—For Better or Fm ro “Cute Meet” to “Joyous Worse Defeat”: How To Write Screenplays David S. Cohen That Sell Billy Mernit In Screen Plays, longtime Variety reporter David Cohen takes students down the long and This first-ever guide to the genre teaches harrowing road every screenplay takes from idea students of all levels how to write audience- to script to screen. Through interviews with satisfying romantic comedy screenplays. some of Hollywood’s top screenwriters—as well Featuring case studies drawn from classic and as many novices, some of who got lucky, and contemporary comedies as well as field-tested some of who didn’t—Cohen explores what sets writing exercises, Writing the Romantic Comedy apart blockbuster films from the “train wrecks.” covers the essentials of character, theme, and plot Tracing the fortunes of 25 films, including development. American Beauty, Gladiator, and Pay It Forward, “Moving well beyond generic pronounce- Cohen demonstrates that the story of how a ments and ‘rules,” Writing the Romantic Comedy guides writers to create real, script was written, sold, developed, and filmed can be just as dramatic and fascinating as the personal, and credible characters and plots that speak to the romantic in all of movie itself—especially when the movie that results is a disaster. us.”—Linda Venis, Director, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program HarperEntertainment: 352 pp.; index. 2008 978-0-06-118919-7 hc $25.95 ($27.95 Can.) Harper paperbacks: 304 pages; index. 2001 978-0-06-093503-0 pb $15.00 ($17.50 Can.) Harper paperbacks: 352 pp.; index. 2009 978-0-06-143157-9 pb $15.99 ($19.99 Can.)

Resources for Writing the Romantic Comedy Resources for Screen Plays Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Billy Mernit’s Website David S. Cohen’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 46

Smoke Signals Writing Screenplays Ac S reenplay That Sell Sherman Alexie Th mpe Co lete Step-by-Step Guide for Writing and Selling to the Smoke Signals is a rare and entertaining comic Movies and TV, from Story Concept treat that won both critical acclaim and to Development to Deal mainstream popularity, and a piece of storytell- ing that all screenwriters in training can learn Michael Hauge from. The success of the film put screenwriter Sherman Alexie—bestselling author of The In this concise, expert, and comprehensive Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian—on the manual, Hollywood story editor and producer map. Critically acclaimed as one of the best Hague guides screenwriters through every step films of the year, Smoke Signals was also a of the writing and selling process. distinguished winner at the Sundance Film “The most practical and best single book Festival. on the subject.”—Hollywood Scriptwriter

Miramax Original: 192 pp.; illustrations. Collins Reference: 352 pp. 1998 978-0-78-688392-9 pb $12.95 ($13.95 Can.) 1991 978-0-06-272500-4 pb $17.00 ($20.00 Can.)

Resources for Smoke Signals Resources for Writing Screenplays That Sell Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Sherman Alexie’s Website Michael Hauge’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 47

How to Shoot a Feature The Writer Got Screwed Film for Under $10,000* (But Didn’t Have To) *Ando N t Go To Jail Ac S reenwriter’s Guide to the Bret Stern Legal and Business Practices of the Entertainment Industry From the writer and director of the film festival Brooke Wharton favorite R2PC (Road to Park City), comes this comprehensive guide for every fledgling director A Hollywood entertainment and copyright who has the passion but needs expert guidance lawyer shows would-be screenwriters how to on making the leap from dreamer to filmmaker. protect their work, ensure that they get Humorous, practical and indispensable, How to compensated, find an agent, enter into a Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 creates a contract, understand their contract, and avoid logical chronology and checklist for intrepid getting screwed or sued along the way. filmmakers. “A great book . . . an indispensable Assuming his readers have virtually no real resource for anyone who has ever knowledge to navigating the path to Hollywood considered writing for the entertainment nor the how-to smarts of making an actual film, Stern sticks to the basics. From budgeting industry.”—Elizabeth Daley, USC School and script writing, to what equipment is used, from casting and catering to using the latest of Cinema/Television in digital video and sound technology, from post production to film festivals, distribution and beyond, Bret Stern will teach aspiring filmmakers everything they need to know about Harper paperbacks: 288 pp. 1997 978-0-06-273236-1 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) making their first film.

Harper paperbacks: 320 pp.; illustrated; index. 2002 978-0-06-008467-7 pb, $14.95 ($18.95 Can.)

Resources for How to Shoot a Feature Film for Resources for The Writer Got Screwed Under $10,000* Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 48

b u s i n e s s W R i t i n g The Seinfeld Scripts The Long Tail Th e First and Second Seasons W hy the Future of Business is Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld Selling Less of More Revised and Updated Edition Writing for a television sitcom is a grueling art Chris Anderson form, and students will benefit from reading some of the best scripts ever written. Chris Anderson reinvents the business book with The Long Tail. In the most important Harper paperbacks: 544 pp. business book since The Tipping Point, Chris 1998 978-0-060-95303-4 pb, $18.95 ($23.95 Can.) Anderson shows how the future of commerce and culture isn’t in hits, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve, but in what used to be regarded as misses—the endlessly long tail of that same curve. He introduces a revolution- ary concept in a way that is completely understandable, making The Long Tail the perfect example of what the new generation of business books should be. “The Long Tail is a rare achievement: it takes something seemingly familiar—the realm of buying and selling—and makes us think about it in a completely new way. This is a remarkably smart book, and also a refreshingly optimistic look at the new rules of a world in which everyone can find something different to enjoy.” —James Suroweicki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds

Hyperion: 288 pp.; index. 2008 978-1-40-130966-4 pb, $15.95 ($17.25 Can.)

Resources for The Seinfeld Scripts Resources for The Long Tail Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Chris Anderson’s Website Seinfeld Website Follow Chris Anderson on Twitter

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 49

The Elements of Effective Business Persuasion Writing U se Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sr t ategies, Suggestions and Sell Faster & Win More Business Examples Richard Maxwell & Robert Dickman Second Edition, Revised and Updated The Elements of Persuasion makes one thing clear: Maryann V. Piotrowski selling requires one central technique—the telling of a good story. It is really that simple. Effective Business Writing is the perfect tool to Stories sell. Storytelling is innate in the human teach your students how to write the letters and psyche. Still, some of us are better at it than memos that are so important to their business others. careers. Whether they are writing an e-mail message to a co-worker or a proposal to an The Elements of Persuasion explores the underly- international colleague, this book will help them ing principles of story, and shows how these choose an appropriate format, style, and tone. principles work together in real world events. The book is written in a light, easy style, and is “The best book on business writing I’ve formatted in alternating theoretical and practical chapters that are aimed at executives in ever encountered.”—Steve Robbins, companies who need to sell their vision; marketing and sales professionals directly involved Harvard Business School in selling products and services; and designers, architects, and creative entrepreneurs who need to explain their cutting-edge designs to “the suits” in a language both parties can Collins Reference: 160 pp. understand. In fact, this book is helpful to anyone who business depends on persuading 1996 978-0-06-273381-8 pb, $12.95 ($16.99 Can.) anyone of anything.

Collins Business: 256 pp.; index. 2007 978-00-6117903-7 hc, $19.95 ($25.99 Can.)

Resources for The Elements of Persuasion Resources for Effective Business Writing Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 50

Writing That Works Talking From 9 to 5 HwtCo o ommunicate Effectively Wm o en and Men at Work in Business Deborah Tannen Third Edition Kenneth Roman & Joel Raphaelson Talking from 9 to 5 brilliantly explains the conversational ritual between men and This guide to the principles of business writing women—and the language barriers we provides tips for writing business letters, memos, unintentionally erect in the business world. It is résumés, fund-raising, and sales letters. a unique and invaluable guide to recognizing the verbal power games and miscommunications “A concise, practical guide to clear, that cause good work to be underappreciated or vigorous writing in professional life.” go unnoticed. —Michael C. Janeway, Dean, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University Harper paperbacks: 368 pp. 2001 978-0-380-71783-5 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.) Collins Reference: 208 pp. 2000 978-0-06-095643-1 pb, $14.95 ($18.99 Can.)

Resources for Writing That Works Resources for Talking From 9 to 5 Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Deborah Tannen’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 51

On Speaking Well How to Talk So People HwtCo o ommunicate Your Ideas Listen with Style, Substance, and Clarity C onnecting in Today’s Workplace Peggy Noonan Sonya Hamlin What Strunk and White have done for the “Ho w to Talk So People Listen gets right to written word, Peggy Noonan has done for the the point, in the straightforward style that spoken word in this indispensable primer on has made Sonya Hamlin a trusted and giving a speech. valued advisor to scores of senior Complete with tips and memorable examples, executives. It’s a must-read for any On Speaking Well will help your students: executive who understands the impor- • Find their own authentic voices tance of speaking clearly and persuasively • Ace the all-important first paragraph in a marketplace where the proliferation • Use logic to move their audience of communications outlets makes it • Str engthen their speeches with a vital element: increasingly challenging to be heard.” humor —Jason H. Wright, Senior Vice President, • Respect simplicity and clarity—big ideas need Communications & Public Affairs, small words Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. • Pr esent their speeches in the best way HarperBusiness: 336 pp. “Peggy Noonan packs a wallop of practical wisdom and insightful tips for rookie 2006 978-0-06-073407-7 pb, $12.95 ($16.95 Can.) and veteran speechmakers alike.”—Forbes

Harper paperbacks: 224 pp. 1999 978-0-06-098740-4 pb $13.00 ($15.00 Can.)

Resources for On Speaking Well Resources for How to Talk So People Listen Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Peggy Noonan’s Website Sonya Hamlin’s Website Video of Sonya Hamlin

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 52

W R iting CA R e e r s Creating a Life Worth How to Get Happily Living Published Aci Pra t cal Course in Career Amp Co lete and Candid Guide Design for Artists, Innovators, and Revised and Updated Others Aspiring to a Creative Life Fifth Edition Carol Lloyd Judith Appelbaum

Are your students looking for real solutions to The bestselling guide to getting published is the problems of planning a creative career? Do now even better than ever, with up-to-the- you find that most career counseling doesn’t minute advice on how to use electronic speak to artists and performers? media—to publish, get publicity, promotion and sales, uncover information, and connect Combining the practicality of What Color is Your with enthusiastic readers. There’s new material Parachute? with the creative vision of The Artist’s on making deals with publishers, working Way, Creating a Life Worth Living leads students with small publishers, deciding whether to through proven, goal-oriented ways to design self-publish, and boosting sales, whoever the the creative career they’ve always wanted—and publisher is. stay sane and solvent doing it. “No other book offers such practical, common-sense guidance on the step-by- “Carol Lloyd’s Life Worth Living workshop helped me to identify what I want to step process of getting a book successfully published. Must reading for everyone achieve and the obstacles I had to overcome. Carol’s intellectual acuity and who wants to do it right.”—Elizabeth Geiser, University of Denver Publishing emotional maturity made the exercises she devised particularly effective and Institute memorable.”—Lisa Wedeen, University of Chicago

Collins Reference: 400 pp. Harper paperbacks: 336 pp. 1998 978-0-06-273509-6 pb, $15.95 ($19.99 Can.) 1997 978-0-06-095243-3 pb, $14.95 ($16.25 Can.)

Resources for Creating a Life Worth Living Resources for How to Get Happily Published Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Carol Lloyd’s Website Judith Appelbaum’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 53

Prime Green A Broom of One’s Own R emembering the Sixties W ords on Writing, Housecleaning Robert Stone & Life Nancy Peacock The memoir of award-winning novelist Robert Stone perfectly invokes the magical decade of Now a writing teacher, Nancy Peacock has a the 60s from the New York of Kline and varied résumé: house cleaner, bartender, DeKooning, to the French Quarter in New carpenter, locksmith, costumer, baker, waitress, Orleans, to the psychedelic California of Ken assistant drum maker, and newspaper deliverer. Kesey, and everything in between. But throughout it all, she was always a writer— the author of two highly regarded novels. “Erudite but blunt, both tender and hard-boiled, the part-time tabloid hack In these honest and witty essays, Peacock turned novelist knows how to stick a explores the writing life—offering useful lessons sentence. He knows how to fly down the on subjects such as inspiration, craft, and high road of ideas, then suddenly crank criticism as well as encouragement to all the steering wheel of style and take us for writers—regardless of what their current job a tough ride along the ditches. He’s great may be. on people—on joining their abstract insides to their outsides—and he’s even “Witty, wise, and wickedly honest, A Broom of One’s Own sweeps away pretension better on places . . . good night, all you dreamy children of Aquarius. Thanks to about the writer’s life. This is an entertaining and heartening romp through the the wise recollections of Robert Stone, you’ve had your bedtime story now.” daily life of a successful working writer.”—Pat Schneider, author of Writing —New York Times Book Review Alone and With Others

Ecco: 272 pp.; 8-page b&w photo insert. Harper Perennial: 208 pp. 2007 P.S. 978-0-06-095777-3 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.) 2008 P.S. 978-0-06-135787-9 pb $13.95 ($17.99 Can)

Resources for Prime Green Resources for A Broom of One’s Own Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Review of Prime Green from the New York Times Book Review Nancy’s Peacock’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 54

gMMA r A R , S t y l e , R e f e r e n C E , A N D L A N g uAG E Mind The Gaffe! Errors in English and A Troubleshooter’s Guide to Ways to Correct Them English Style and Usage Fo urth Edition R. L. Trask Harry Shaw Mind the Gaffe! has become a must-read among Using extensive exercises and examples, Shaw writers, educators, and language-mavens— provides a quick reference guide to correct everyone who needs to know the difference usage, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, between lesser and fewer, disinterested and unin- pronunciation, and a dictionary of terms in terested, and hire, rent, and charter. Practical, grammar and composition. bracing, and wonderfully readable, here is a new style guide that is destined to become a classic. Collins Reference: 320 pp. “A usage guide that will actually be used: 1993 978-0-06-461044-5 pb, $13.95 ($17.99 Can.) Unlike some of the weightier tomes in this field, comprehensive but daunting, this book seems to follow the 80/20 rule by offering a straightforward alphabetical list of terms (assume, presume; imbue, inculcate) writers are especially likely to mangle.”—Christian Science Monitor

Harper paperbacks: 320 pp. 2006 978-00-6113220-9, pb, $13.95 (N/C)

Resources for Mind the Gaffe! Resources for Errors in English and Ways to Correct Them Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 55

English Grammar Choose the Right Word A HarperCollins College Outline A Contemporary Guide to David I. Daniels, M.S. & Barbara Daniels Selecting the Precise Word for Every Situation In English Grammar, the basics and finer points S. I. Hayakawa of English grammar are thoroughly explained, Eugene Ehrlich, Revising Editor with examples and exercises for learning or brushing up on speech and writing. This Choose the Right Word is a unique blend of comprehensive guidebook includes: sentence thesaurus, dictionary and manual of English basics, nouns and articles, verbs, adjectives and language with over 1,000 entries that compare adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions. and contrast 6,000 commonly used synonyms and related words to help students find the right Collins Reference: 288 pp.; glossary; index; bibliography. word. 1991 978-0-06-467109-5 pb, $16.95 ($18.50 Can.) “Word relationships are carefully selected and clearly defined to reflect [contemporary] usage.T he guide may also be commended for its clear and readable style.”—Booklist

Collins Reference: 544 pp. 1994 978-0-06-273131-9 pb, $23.95 ($31.50 Can.)

Resources for English Grammar Resources for Choose the Right Word Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 56

Roget’s International Roget’s Thesaurus Thesaurus S ixth Edition Robert L. Chapman S ixth Edition Edited by Barbara Ann Kipfer This abridged edition contains over 230,000 Robert L. Chapman, Consulting Editor words, nearly 3,000 of which are newly added.

The world’s bestselling thesaurus contains over Harper: 960 pp. 325,000 words, as well as superior depth of 2007 978-0-06-009479-9 mm, $5.99 ($6.99 Can.) information, efficiency, and ease of use.

Collins: 1280 pp. 2001 978-0-06-273693-2 hc, $20.99 ($24.99 Can.)

Collins Reference: 1280 pp. 2002 978-0-06-093544-3 pb, $16.95 ($21.50 Can.)

Resources for Roget’s International Thesaurus Resources for The Concise Roget’s International Thesaurus Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 57

Collins Webster’s The Highly Selective Dictionary Dictionary for the With over 45,000 definitions, including slang, Extraordinarily Literate business, and computer terminology, this is one Eugene Ehrlich of the most up-to-date dictionaries on the market. This book presents only the most interesting words and their concise definitions—plus short Harper: 608 pp. 2007 978-0-06-055782-9 mm, $5.99 ($7.99 Can.) discussions of words most often misused.

Collins Reference: 224 pp. 1997 978-0-06-270190-9 hc, $17.00 ($21.50 Can.)

Resources for Collins Webster’s Dictionary Resources for The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 58

The Highly Selective The Highly Selective Dictionary of Golden Thesaurus for the Adjectives for the Extraordinarily Literate Extraordinarily Literate Eugene Ehrlich

Eugene Ehrlich A unique and impressive thesaurus that provides only the most unusual words for each entry. This definitive collection of “golden” adjectives was selected for the extraordinarily discriminat- Collins Reference: 224 pp. ing user. 1994 978-0-06-270016-2 hc, $17.00 $21.50 Can.)

Collins Reference: 272 pp. 2002 978-0-06-018636-4 hc, $19.95 ($25.99 Can.)

Resources for The Highly Selective Dictionary of Resources for The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Golden Adjectives for the Extraordinarily Literate Extraordinarily Literate Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 59

Benét’s Reader’s The Barnhart Concise Encyclopedia Dictionary of FIFT H Edition Etymology Edited by Bruce Murphy Th e Origins of American English Words Long recognized as the outstanding reference on world literature, this new, updated, and revised Robert K. Barnhart edition of Benét’s Reader’s Encyclopedia is the one against which all others are measured, and is the Written in a fresh, accessible style, this book single-most complete one-volume encyclopedia provides the derivations of over 21,000 available for those with a serious interest in the English-language words without resorting to the subject. use of abbreviations, symbols, or technical terminology. Drawing on the most current The entries explore all aspects of literature from American scholarship, and focusing on the core around the world: biographies of poets and words in contemporary English, The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology is both a playwrights, novelists and belle trists; plot synopses and character sketches from important diverting browse and a thinking person’s Bible. works; historical data on literary schools, movements, terms and awards; myths and legends; and more. Collins Reference: 944 pp. 1995 978-0-06-270084-1 hc, $55.00 ($65.00 Can.) Collins Reference: 1232 pp. 2008 978-0-06-089016-2 hc, $60.00 ($72.00 Can.)

Resources for Benét’s Reader’s Encyclopedia Resources for The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Browse Inside the Book Order an Examination Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 60

Collins Pocket and Collins Gem Dictionaries and Thesauri

Small in size yet big in scope, these dictionaries and thesauri are perfect for slipping into a pocket, backpack or briefcase. They offer comprehensive listings of definitions and synonyms, for communicating effectively and efficiently.

Collins Pocket Webster’s Collins Gem Webster’s Oxford American Dictionary Dictionary Dictionary He ald Colleges Edition Oxford University Press So ec nd Edition Th ird Edition Collins Reference: 640 pp. Collins Reference: 640 pp. Contains concise definitions, preferred spellings, and the 2007 978-0-06-114192-8 pb, $11.95 (N/C) 2005 978-0-06-082571-3 pb, $6.95 (N/C) latest pronunciation system. “Highly recommended.”—Library Journal Collins Pocket Webster’s Collins Gem Thesaurus Avon: 1120 pp. Th ird Edition Thesaurus 1982 978-0-380-60772-3 mm, $5.99 ($7.99 Can.) Collins Reference: 640 pp. So ec nd Edition 2005 978-0-06-082572-0 pb, $6.95 (N/C) Collins Reference: 640 pp. 2007 978-0-06-114204-8 pb, $11.95 (N/C)

Resources for Collins Pocket and Collins Gem Resources for Oxford American Dictionary Dictionaries and Thesauri Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 61

The Mother Tongue Made in America E nglish & How It Got That Way Anf In ormal History of the Bill Bryson English Language in United States Bill Bryson With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, “A witty and irreverent scamper through eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the the vocabulary of American English.” English language. —San Francisco Chronicle “Bryson traces the English language from “Bryson offers a playfully anecdotal the Neanderthal man of 30,000 years ago account of the etymology of distinctive to the present. Interestingly, he contrasts words and phrases that help to create a the language as it developed simultane- distinctly American English.”—Publishers ously in various locations. He also Weekly presents examples of the evolution of words and their spellings. The book is Harper Perennial: 432 pp. 2001 978-0-380-71381-3 pb, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) well researched and informative; the thorough index will aid novices in the exploration of the language.”—School Library Journal

Harper Perennial: 272 pp. 2001 978-0-380-71543-5 pb, $14.95 ($16.25 Can.)

Resources for The Mother Tongue Resources for Made in America Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Bill Bryson’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 62

Morris Dictionary of Don’t Know Much Word and Phrase About® Mythology Origins E verything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in So ec nd Edition Human History But Never Learned William & Mary Morris Kenneth C. Davis

The first edition of the Morris Dictionary of Word Davis explores the great legends of the world and Phrase Origins detailed the fascinating and and their implications for art, science, religion little known stories behind thousands of and culture throughout history. words and phrases that we use every day. In this second edition, the authors update and expand “An enthusiastic introduction to world their classic work to keep pace with our mythology. . . . Fascinating.”––School ever-changing language. Library Journal

Collins Reference: 688 pp. Harper paperbacks: 560 pp. 1988 978-0-06-015862-0 hc, $38.00 (N/C) 2006 978-0-06-093257-2 pb, $14.95 ($19.50 Can.)

Resources for Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Resources for Don’t Know Much About® Mythology Origins Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Kenneth C. Davis’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 63

Brewer’s Dictionary of Red Herrings and Phrase and Fable White Elephants S eventeenth Edition Th e Origins of the Phrases We Use Revised by John Ayto Every Day Albert Jack The new Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable of the 21st century maintains and respects the From “bringing home the bacon” to “leaving no book’s 135-year-old tradition, while offering a stone unturned,” Albert Jack recounts the wealth of fascinating new material to reflect the amazing and sometimes downright bizarre phrase and fable of an ever-changing world. stories behind many of our most familiar and With more than one million words of text and eccentric modes of expression. 19,000 entries—1,500 of them brand new—this seventeenth edition is the largest and most HarperCollins: 272 pp.; illustrated; index. 2006 978-0-06-084337-3 hc, $15.95 ($18.95 Can.) comprehensive to date, and a must for every reference bookshelf.

Collins Reference: 1326 pp. 2005 978-0-06-112120-3 hc, $55.00 ($69.95 Can.)

Resources for Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Resources for Red Herrings and White Elephants Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Albert Jack’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 64

Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and The Power of Babel Spuds Aa N tural History of Language John McWhorter I ngenious Tales of Words and Their Origins In this accessible book about the natural history Michael Quinion of language, linguistic professor John McWhort- er ranges across linguistic theory, geography, This delightful reference skewers commonly history, and pop culture to tell the fascinating accepted word origin myths—revealing the true story of how thousands of very different story of a word or phrase’s origin. languages have evolved from a single, original “Whenever I look up the origins of idioms, source in a natural process similar to biological they seem to derive from some awful, evolution. brutish practice of the 18th-century “McWhorter offers a sweeping survey of British navy. How refreshing to find out people’s movements around the globe from Michael Quinion’s fascinating book and the evolution of languages. that they sometimes come from some- Entertaining . . . and . . . accessible.” where else!”—Lynne Truss, author of Eats, —Science News Shoots, and Leaves Harper Perennial: 352 pp.; index. Harper paperbacks: 288 pp. 2003 978-0-06-052085-4 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.) 2006 978-0-06-085153-8 pb, $12.95 (N/C)

Resources for Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds Resources for The Power of Babel Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Michael Quinion’s Website Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Biography of JohnMcWhorter Archive of John McWhorter’s New York Sun Columns

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 65

Dictionary of American Empires of the Word Slang Aa L nguage History of the World Nicholas Ostler Fo urth Edition Robert L. Chapman & Barbara Ann Kipfer “[A] monumental new book . . . Ostler furnishes many fresh insights, useful The classic slang dictionary is now updated for historical anecdotes and charming the 21st century with more than 1500 new linguistic oddities . . . His massive words and definitions—from abandominiums to overview of major languages in world zoom on. history puts the current global spread of English in perspective.”—Chicago Tribune Collins Reference: 608 pp. 2007 978-0-06-117646-3 hc, $45.00 ($53.00 Can.) “A masterly comparative analysis of empires’ linguistic effects throughout  history . . . Ostler writes in a concise yet engaging manner, displaying Also available an impressive grasp of the history of A americ n Slang The Abridged Edition of the Dictionary of American Slang languages . . . This book is accessible Second Edition to anyone with an interest in language.”—Library Journal Robert L. Chapman Collins Reference: 592 pp. Harper Perennial: 640 pp.; maps and charts throughout; index. 1998 978-0-06-273293-4 pb, $16.95 ($18.50 Can.) 2006 978-0-06-093572-6 pb, $17.95 ($22.95 Can.)

Resources for American Slang series Resources for Empires of the Word Browse Inside Dictionary of American Slang Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 66

By Jove! Born to Kvetch B prush U Your Mythology Y iddish Language and Culture in Michael Macrone All of Its Moods Michael Wex “Both an entertaining handbook to classical mythology and a revealing Born to Kvetch is a smart and witty portrait of catalog of divinely inspired word origins.” Yiddish and its relationship to both Jewish ––Booknews culture and American life. “Wex explains Yiddish culture by unravel- Harper paperbacks: 256 pp. 1994 978-0-06-272019-1 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.) ing, in great detail, the words and phrases used by Yiddish speakers in the various areas of their lives. In doing so, he draws deeply on the complex traditional and religious roots of Jewish culture while engaging in what can only be called national psychobiography. The results are a joy to behold.”—Washington Post

Harper Perennial: 336 pp. 2006 P.S. 978-0-06-113217-9 pb, $13.99 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for By Jove! Resources for Born to Kvetch Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Michael Wex’s Website Video of Michael Wex

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 67

Just Say Nu The Story of Yiddish Y iddish for Every Occasion (When Hw o a Mish-mosh of Languages English Just Won’t Do) Saved the Jews Michael Wex Neal Karlen

“With verve, élan, and something only a That Yiddish is a mirror of Jewish history, non-Yiddish speaker would call chutzpah, thought, and practice—for better and worse— Michael Wex returns to the linguistic underlies Neal Karlen’s narrative, as he charts mother lode that yielded Born to Kvetch Yiddish from its beginnings as a minor dialect in [and] gets down to the everyday business 11th century France and Italy, to the time before of putting Yiddish to use.”—New York Times World War II when 13 million spoke the language; and on to unlikely resuscitation and Harper Perennial: 336 pp.; index electrifying 21st century renaissance. 2008 P.S. 978-0-06-165732-0 pb, $14.95 ($16.25 Can.) William Morrow: 336 pp. 2008 978-0-06-083711-2 hc, $25.95 ($27.95 Can.)

Harper paperbacks: 336 pp. 2009 978-0-06-083712-9 pb, $13.99 ($17.99 Can.)

Resources for Just Say Nu Resources for The Story of Yiddish Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Neal Karlen’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 68

Spanglish Proust and the Squid T he Making of a New American T he Story and Science of the Language Reading Brain Ilan Stavans Maryanne Wolf

Complete with over 6,000 entries, this A preeminent researcher known for her work in marvelous linguistic guide by award winning dyslexia offers an eloquent book about how the author Ilan Stavans explains why the emergence brain learned to read and in the process changed of Spanglish is a viable and important marker of the way we as humans think. the Latino community’s influence on American As the author explains, human beings were culture. never born to read; we invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, Harper Perennial: 288 pp. 2004 978-0-06-008776-0 pb, $13.95 ($16.50 Can.) we changed the very organization of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species. Using a vivid and elegant multidisciplinary approach in the tradition of Jared Diamond or John McWhorter, she explains both the far-reaching effect that written language has had on human development as well as the extraordinarily complex cognitive and perceptual feat of learning to read and write.

Harper: 320 pp.; illustrated throughout; index. 2007 978-0-06-018639-5 hc, $25.95 ($32.95 Can.)

Harper Perennial: 336 pp.; illustrated throughout; index. 2008 978-0-06-093384-5 pb, $14.95 ($18.99 Can.)

Resources for Spanglish Resources for Proust and the Squid Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Profile of Ilan Stavans in The Village Voice Tufts University Faculty Profile Page for Maryanne Wolf Ilan Stavans Interview with NPR Interview with Maryanne Wolf Video of Maryanne Wolf

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 69

Words That Work The Language Instinct I ot’s N t What You Say, It’s What Hwt o he Mind Creates Language People Hear Steven Pinker Revised, Updated Edition Frank Luntz Steven Pinker, well-known for his revolutionary theory of how children acquire language, lucidly Words are important—every writer knows that. explains everything you always wanted to know The power of one’s word choice is demonstrated about language: how it works, how children most aptly in Words That Work. Dr. Frank Luntz, learn it, how it changes, how the brain language architect and public opinion guru, not computes it, and how it evolves. only raises the curtain on the craft of effective The new edition’s P.S. section contains Pinker’s language, but also offers priceless insight on how most recent thoughts on language and cognitive to find and use the right words to get what you development, as well updates on each chapter, want out of life. Dr. Luntz teaches about the including the ongoing debate between Pinker phenomenon of transforming mere words into and linguist Noam Chomsky, the natural history an effective arsenal for the war of perception we of language development in the news, and over all wage each and every day. 80 books and resources that Pinker recommends. “Words That Work deserves an attentive read. “A brilliant, witty, and altogether satisfying book.”—New York Review of Books Mr. Luntz offers a fair amount of good advice to anyone who must communi- cate publicly—most important, “be the message.” By this he means that if you Harper Perennial Modern Classics: 576 pp.; index. want to talk the talk and be believed, you must walk the walk — which is to say, 2007 978-0-06133646-1 pb, $15.99 ($19.99 Can.) you must mean what you say and act on it. Integrity sells.” —Wall Street Journal

Hyperion: 368 pp. 2008 978-1-40-130929-9 pb, $15.95 ($17.25 Can.)

Resources for Words That Work Resources for The Language Instinct Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research Website Steven Pinker’s Website Assorted Videos of Steven Pinker

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 70

Words and Rules I Never Metaphor Th e Ingredients of Language I Didn’t Like Steven Pinker Amp Co rehensive Compilation of History’s Greatest Analogies, Using amusing examples and radical insights, Metaphors, and Similes Pinker seeks to explain the profound mysteries of our miraculous human ability for language. Dr. Mardy Grothe

“Pinker is now an established Dr. Mardy Grothe brings his attention to the public intellectual, the most visible metaphor, perhaps the most versatile tool a representative of the new field of cognitive person has in trying to express a powerful idea. science, linguistics and experimental Drawing heavily from literature of alltypes and psychology. . . . [This book] is a gem.” styles—from the classic Greeks to the present —New York Times day—he shows the metaphor in all its might.

Harper Perennial: 368 pp.; index. Harper: 336 pp.; index. 2000 978-0-06-095840-4 pb, $15.00 ($17.50 Can.) 2008 978-0-06-135813-5 hc; $14.95 ($16.25 Can.)

Resources for Words and Rules Resources for I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like Browse Inside the Book Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Dr. Mardy Grothe’s Website

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 71

Oxymoronica Every Book Its Reader Paradoxical Wit and Wisdom from History’s Th w e Po er of the Printed Word to Greatest Wordsmiths Stir the World Nicholas A. Basbanes

Harper: 256 pp.; index. 2004 978-0-06-053699-2 hc; $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) From “our leading author of books about books” (David McCullough) comes an exploration of Also Available: what books have most influenced our culture, Vvl i a a Repartee through interviews with several of our most Clever Comebacks and Witty Retorts from accomplished bibliophiles. History’s Great Wits and Wordsmiths Harper: 304 pp.; index. “Every Book Its Reader reminds us that 2005 978-0-06-078948-0 hc, $14.99 ($18.99 Can.) books, in all their myriad forms, are necessary equipment for living. They set some on the wrong path, but, as the majority of Basbanes’ studies attest, these bookish inspirations have been mostly for the good.”—Los Angeles Times

Harper Perennial: 400 pp.; 16-page black-and-white photo insert; index. 2006 978-0-06-059324-7 pb, $15.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for Oxymoronica and Viva la Repartee Resources for Every Book Its Reader Browse Inside Oxymoronica Browse Inside the Book Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy Nicholas A. Basbanes’s Website Video of Nicholas A. Basbanes

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 72

A Splendor of Letters Patience & Fortitude Th e Permanence of Books in an W herein a Colorful Cast of Impermanent World Determined Book Collectors, Nicholas A. Basbanes Dealers, and Librarians Go About the Quixotic Task of Preserving a Basbanes offers a consideration of the many Legacy pressing issues that surround the role of books in Nicholas A. Basbanes contemporary society, such as the willful destruction of books and libraries in Sarajevo, Here is a colorful, narrative history of the Tibet, and Cambodia, and the spirited efforts to preservation of knowledge in book form restore them. through the ages, from the author of the critically acclaimed A Gentle Madness. “Basbanes always presents literature in terms of its universal human relevance. “Compulsory for anyone seriously It would be hard to imagine anyone who interested in books or curious about the more genuinely grasps the infinite manic nature of collecting.”—New York meaning of literature, which, like a Times Book Review message in a bottle tossed on the waves of time, continues a dialogue of hope between writers past, present and future.” Harper Perennial: 688 pp.; two 16-page black-and-white photo inserts; index. —San Francisco Chronicle 2003 978-0-06-051446-4 pb, $19.95 ($23.50 Can.)

Harper Perennial: 464 pp.; index. 2004 978-0-06-058080-3 pb, $15.95 ($17.50 Can.)

Resources for A Splendor of Letters Resources for Patience & Fortitude Request a Desk Copy Request a Desk Copy Order an Examination Copy Order an Examination Copy

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 73

O r d e r i n g a n d C o n ta c t I n f o r m at i o n

Desk Copy Requests Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom Complimentary desk copies are available for instructors who adopt a HarperCollins or Not all books published by HarperCollins in the United States are available from Hyperion title for course use as a required text. One desk copy is available for every 15 HarperCollins in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Therefore, please check copies of each title ordered with a limit of 10 desk copies per adoption. A copy of a to make certain that HarperCollins is the publisher in your country. bookstore or wholesaler order must be provided upon request as proof of adoption. If you are an instructor teaching in Australia, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom, contact the appropriate HarperCollins company: Within this catalog, click “Request a Desk Copy” to order or visit www.HarperAcademic.com. HarperCollins Australia HarperCollins New Zealand Examination Copy Orders HarperCollins United Kingdom United States Only Other Regions Examination copies are provided for instructors who are considering a HarperCollins or Not all books published by HarperCollins in the United States are available from Hyperion title for their course. Paperback examination copies may be purchased with a HarperCollins in other parts of the world. Therefore, please check to make certain 50% discount—plus sales tax. There is a limit of four titles per instructor per year. that HarperCollins is the publisher in your country. Hardcover examination copies are available at a 20% discount, plus $4.00 postage and handling per order. Examination charges are non-refundable. To request a desk or examination copy, professors should contact csinternational@ harpercollins.com. Examination charges must be prepaid with a credit card, check, or money order. The 50% discount paperback examination copy and 20% discounted hardcover examination copy offers are only valid in the United States. Customer Service: 1-800-331-3761 Desk copy requests and examination copy orders may be called in between 8:30 am to Within this catalog, you’ll find the correct form for each book by clicking “Order an 4:30 pm EST. For examination copy requests, please have your credit card ready. Examination Copy.” Fax this form to 1-800-822-4090. The Academic Marketing Department Canada Only Visit www.HarperAcademic.com to request desk copies, download an examination copy Not all books published by HarperCollins in the United States are available from form, search our list, access instructor’s guides, sign up for our subject area e-bulletins, and HarperCollins Canada. Please check to make certain that HarperCollins Canada is the view our academic conference schedule. publisher in Canada. To request a desk copy or examination copy online, visit HarperCollins Canada. You can reach us at [email protected]. By phone, please call 800-387-0117 Diane Burrowes Doreen Davidson Lauren Branchini By fax, please use 800-668-5788 Director Associate Director Assistant By mail, please use the following address: HarperCollins Canada, Ltd. 1995 Markham Road Scarborough, Ontario M1B 5M8 Canada

Index View Print Exit W r i t i n g G u i d e s • • 74

O r d e r i n g a n d C o n ta c t I n f o r m at i o n cont’d.

HarperCollins SpeakersBureau The HarperCollins SpeakersBureau is your connection to a stellar list of speakers for your campus events. The HarperCollins SpeakersBureau has access to all HarperCollins authors. If you are interested in a speaker listed in this catalog—or any HarperCollins author— please contact us, and we will be happy to locate the speaker of your choice, as well as negotiate and broker the engagement on your behalf. www.HarperCollinsSpeakers.com Telephone: 212 207 7100 Fascimile: 212 207 7921 Jamie Brickhouse Julie Elmuccio Director Associate [email protected] [email protected]

Bulk Sales We know there are times when you would like to share a special book with your colleagues and students. For information on multiply-copy orders, please contact our Special Markets Department at 212 207 7945 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022

Amistad · Avon · Caedmon · Collins Design · Collins Reference · Collins Ecco · Eos · Harper · HarperAudio HarperBusiness · HarperOne Harper paperbacks · Harper Perennial · Harper Perennial Modern Classics HarperStudio · It! Books · William Morrow

Distributors of

Prices and offers in this catalog are subject to change without notice.

Index View Print Exit