Overview

Today, the surprisingly elastic form of the memoir embraces subjects that include dying, illness, loss, relationships, and self-awareness. Writing to reveal the inner self--the pilgrimage into one's spiritual and/or religious nature--is a primary calling. Contemporary memoirists are exploring this field with innovative storytelling, rigorous craft, and new styles of confessional authorship. Now, Thomas Larson brings his expertise as a critic, reader, and teacher to the boldly evolving and improvisatory world of spiritual literature. In his book-length essay Spirituality and the Writer, Larson surveys the literary insights of authors old and new who have shaped religious autobiography and spiritual memoir--from Augustine to Thomas Merton, from Peter Matthiessen to Cheryl Strayed. He holds them to an exacting standard: they must render transcendent experience in the writing itself. Only when the writer's craft prevails can the fleeting and profound personal truths of the spirit be captured. Like its predecessor, Larson's The Memoir and the Memoirist, Spirituality and the Writer will find a home in writing classrooms and book groups, and be a resource for students, teachers, and writers who seek guidance with exploring their spiritual lives.

Full Product Details

9780804012126

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for The Memoir and the Memoirist: Indispensable ... arguably one of the two or three best references for those who teach and write nonfiction. Praise for The Memoir and the Memoirist: This thoughtfully reasoned and lucidly written book delves further into the dynamics of the new memoir than anything I know of, and is sure to spark discussion, help guide would-be practitioners, and bring much-needed illumination to a vexed subject. -- Phillip Lopate

Author Information

Thomas Larson is a critic, memoirist, essayist, and the author of numerous books, including The Sanctuary of Illness: A Memoir of Heart Disease, The Saddest Music Ever Written: The Story of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” and two Swallow Press titles: The Memoir and the Memoirist: Reading and Writing Personal Narrative and Spirituality and the Writer: A Personal Inquiry.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available