Bob Mustin's Blog
RSS
May.18.2013
The Mind of the South, by W.J. Cash
This book was written some 75 years ago, and it’s amazing to me how closely Southern attitudes, the South's social structure, the personals and political cants of that time parallel those of the South today. It’s tempting to make an essay of this review...
Continue Reading »
May.18.2013
As both a writer and a book critic, I can only say to critics: Criticize, but be nice.
The Telegraph
Visit my website here, and my FB Fan Page here for more on ideas and events that matter to me - and possibly to you. I'll soon be adding podcasts of selected book...
Continue Reading »
May.17.2013
You wouldn't think of the Midwest as a hotbed of literary and creative writing - unless you've been to the Iowa Workshop, or are a fan of one of that area's fine stable of writers, such as Ron Hansen, one of my favorites. And I wouldn't have thought of literary tech...
Continue Reading »
May.16.2013
The Millions has been a must-read blog for me for a long time, and now I notice that their biz is growing and they need help. You might fill the bill, if you're a "voracious reader."
The Millions
Continue Reading »
May.12.2013
The Orchard Keeper, by Cormac McCarthy
You may become puzzled trying to categorize McCarthy’s writing style, but you won’t find it hard at all to place it in the canon of Southern literature. McCarthy eventually moved on from this subset, his most famous books taking place in the Southwest U.S.,...
Continue Reading »
May.09.2013
Writer’s Chronicle, May/Summer 2013
This writer’s mag isn’t always thematically consistent from issue to issue, but this time I see a pattern.
In Liz Radford’s interview with artist/novelist Audrey Niffenegger we discover that Niffenegger cares not a whit about the traditional...
Continue Reading »
May.07.2013
The Atlantic, April 2013
I'm a little late with this post, but in this day of the personality cult, we feel obliged to know, not just about issues, but about the people who make the issues. As much as I dislike this, The Atlantic has done us a favor by giving us...
Continue Reading »
May.05.2013
Harper’s Magazine/April 2013
Once more, mag week rears its journalistic head:
One thing that keeps the better magazines in business is digging into a given subject hard enough and long enough to separate spin from what’s intended, i.e., image from the deeper roots of truth. This issue of...
Continue Reading »
May.02.2013
We writers have heard for years that cinema has co-opted books. We've been taught to write in a manner that mimics cameras shots, i.e., to cinematize literature. Now a new twist appears (see link below) with Steven Soderbergh retiring from cinema and posting chapters from a novella on Twitter....
Continue Reading »
Apr.30.2013
William Zinsser's work on creative writing has influenced countless aspiring writers - up close, though his tutoring, and from afar through his long-time best-selling book, On Writing Well.
Now blind and 90 years of age, he's still doing what he's always done. That should be inspiration...
Continue Reading »
Apr.25.2013
Black Dogs, By Ian McEwan
I still find it odd that some (if not most) people will never re-read a book. I've just re-read this one because it was my first McEwan and I was so unfamiliar with his odd story structure that the essence of the book didn’t stay with me. But that was something like ten...
Continue Reading »
1 comment
Apr.23.2013
Writers, are you looking for a new pathway to being discovered?
Then Amazon's Kindle Singles may be the thing. The article linked below introduces you to Singles, and to their mastermind, David Blum.
NYT
Visit my website here, and my...
Continue Reading »
Apr.22.2013
It's always tempting as an indie writer to go your own way in editing. It can be done - and done well - but you often get caught up in the minutiae and lose the big picture of your characters and story.
The five simple guidelines at the link below will help make self-editing a success.
But...
Continue Reading »
Apr.20.2013
This almost slipped past me - and probably past you as well - what with the sad but riveting drama in Boston.
I haven't read the fiction winner (yet) but it seems an attempt to enlist non-fiction aficionados among its readers. Most of the other books testify to the fascination we in the U.S. have...
Continue Reading »
Apr.18.2013
How Wendy Redbird Dancing Survived the Dark Ages of Nought, by Lyn Fairchild Hawks
Sometimes a novel steps out of the safety of genre and takes its chances. Fairchild Hawks' book is one such, and by my reckoning, it's a success.
The story here is of Wendy, a fatherless sixteen year-old girl...
Continue Reading »
4 comments
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
”
—ERNEST HEMINGWAY, New York Journal-American, Jul. 11, 1961
About Bob
I've been a North Carolina Writers Network writer-in-residence at Peace College under Doris Betts' guiding hand. In the early '90s, I was the editor of a small literary journal,The Rural Sophisticate, based in Georgia. My work has appeared in The...
Connections
Causes Bob Mustin Supports
Native American culture. Education. Creative writing.
Bob’s Favorite Books
The Garden of Eden Waiting For The Barbarians War and Peace Saturday Our Lady Of The Forest Atticus