Evening by Susan Minot

I’m a little bit indecisive about this book. Sometimes it has the strength of an Olympic runner. Other times it plods along with the sap-laden jog of a paperback romance. It’s basically the story of Ann Lord, who in the present time is dying of cancer. The narrative jumps back and forth between different time periods of her life, the most consistent being a wedding she attended in her 20s when she met Harris, the only man she ever really loved. The story sets you up with a secret that you’re hoping the author will reveal. And it’s a pretty good one. But, despite Minot’s artistry in the first two-thirds of the book, sometimes it was just too high in sugar content. The main sex scene, for instance, was so drawn out and predictable that I took a break in the middle of it and baked a chicken. But I accomplished my goal of reading the book before the movie came out and that’s what really counts. Favorite Quote: “It was important that someone always be talking otherwise the silence took hold like a Virginia creeper invading a garden and darkened the air with what was going on in the room, the battle with pain, the downhill journey. It was not discussed that they were all here to see her off. They brought in bits of the world and when there was silence the absurdity of conversation was too apparent.”

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

This was required reading for the Denver Writing Project’s summer institute (which starts on Monday). With humor and poignancy, King describes some of the life experiences that led to his becoming a writer. In the second half of the book he offers sort of a laundry list of advice for budding writers who want to revise and publish. Though I have never read any of King’s fiction (nor do I care to), this piece of non-fiction was amusing and informative. However, if asked, I would recommend Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird above this book for people who want a guide for writing and/or advice about teaching writing. Favorite Quote: “The key to writing good dialogue is honesty. And if you are honest about the words coming out of your characters’ mouths, you’ll find that you’ve let yourself in for a fair amount of criticism . . . Some people don’t want to hear the truth, of course, but that’s not your problem. What would be is wanting to be a writer without wanting to shoot straight.”