If King's "On Writing" is overly long but highly applicable, Dillard's "The Writing Life" is overly short but highly unpractical. "The Writing Life" is not a book on the craft of writing, it is a book attempting to paint a portrait of what writing feels like (at least to Dillard).

Dillard's style shows through clearly, her metaphysical ramblings and poignant metaphors sometimes obscuring and sometimes perfectly capturing her point. Overall, this book came across as a mixed bag to me. Half burst with encouragement and efforts to romanticize the art, the other half filled with vague allusions to spirituality and not a few rambling stories about this or that cabin or loveable local. Its saving grace, however, is its length. "The Writing Life" is succinct. So even if the reader finds themselves put out by whatever the author is focusing on, don't worry, it'll be over shortly.

I will definitely be revisiting this work later. So thank you, Annie.


4/5 Stars