13 Ways of Looking at the Novel

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes an essential guide for writers and readers alike: an exhilarating tour through one hundred novels that "inspires wicked delight.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review From classics such as the thousand-year-old Tale of Genji to fiction by Zadie Smith, Jane Smiley explores the power of the form, looking at its history and variety, its cultural impact, and just how it works its magic. She invites us behind the scenes of novel-writing, sharing her own habits and spilling the secrets of her craft, and offering priceless advice to aspiring authors. Every page infects us anew with the passion for reading that is the governing spirit of this gift to book lovers everywhere.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author celebrates the art of fiction and the pleasures of reading as she looks at one hundred very different examples of the novel, ranging from the classics to little-known gems and from the Tale of Genji to Zadie Smith's White Teeth, discussing the evolution of the novel, the practice of novel-writing, and the publication process. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.