Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Wild for Writers

Bill Peschel and I have (virtually) known each other for a number of years, so I hope he forgives me for snatching up a copy of his debut book Writers Gone Wild when BAM put it out on the shelves a bit early. I couldn't help myself; it's a book about the great writers of our time. More specifically (and I'll quote here) "The Feuds, Frolics and Follies of Literature's Great Adventurers, Drunkards, Lovers, Iconoclasts, and Misanthropes."

Resist a book with that kind of subtitle? Are you kidding? I made a bowl of popcorn and sat down with it like the minute I got home from the bookstore.

The first two lines of the intro (George Bernard Shaw inspired this book. Particularly his condoms.) had me grinning. From there Bill relates how Shaw's other side inspired him to make the journey from idea to print. He also mentions how he views this compilation of 200 writer scandals, outrages and cautionary tales, both as illuminating and great fun. I have no doubt he'll get some flack for it from the literati's pedestal polishers, but I think what he's done with this project is worth it.

Bill's writing is as smooth as his wry, intelligent voice, and the result is an effortless read, but I expected nothing less. What I didn't anticipate was how much I didn't know about the Greats, such as Emily Brontë's (failed) attempt to be a teacher, or that Dorothy Parker had been targeted by the FBI. Norman Mailer's misogyny has always been fairly infamous, but for the first time I discovered why so many women writers spit whenever they hear his name.

Not every tale Bill tells is the stuff of great, shocking scandal; many were just plain laugh-out-loud funny, and a few were truly inspiring. I was never aware that Samuel Beckett secretly joined the French Resistance during WWII, and was decorated for his efforts to fight the Nazis. Nor did I have a clue that E.B. White had to endure censorship and a vicious, meddling critic who wanted to ban the much-loved Stuart Little before it was even published. Even little incidents, like the time Katherine Mansfield defended D.H. Lawrence by snatching his book from a jerk who was making fun of it in public, opened my eyes to the real people behind the famous names.

I came away from reading Writers Gone Wild with a better appreciation for the writers who came before us, not as literary greats but as real, flawed, often likeable human beings. I will admit to some satisfaction over a few scandals (I happily crowed over the tale of Joseph Conrad, page 71-72; this because I've hated him since high school) as well as some pangs of sadness (too many brilliant writer minds and lives have been destroyed by alcohol and substance abuse.) More than anything, though, reading this book made me feel a little wiser. I don't think we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past as long as we learn from them and take a different path to create healthy, happier writing lives for ourselves.

And it was great fun to read. Bill Peschel really delivered on that promise.

But as always, you don't have to take my word for it. In comments to this post, name a writer from any time with whom you would love to sit down and have coffee and chat (or if you'd rather hang out with non-writers, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Saturday, October 30, 2010. I'll draw five names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners an unsigned copy of Writers Gone Wild by Bill Peschel. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something at PBW in the past.

58 comments:

  1. Strigine4:29 AM

    I still deeply wish I'd had an opportunity to meet Audre Lorde, and let her know how powerfully her work inspired me.

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  2. I wanna chat with you! :)

    Your career is very different from many other writers, and I just want to talk to you about how you do it, etc. :)

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  3. I'd love to sit down and have a chat with Stephen King.

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  4. This book sounds very interesting! I think I would like to talk to Shakespeare, just to get his opinion on why everyone seems to worship him, especially in Ireland. It just doesn't make sense...
    :)
    twowritersdaily@gmail.com

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  5. You... lol. Aside from that? Mercedes Lackey. I did get to meet Josepha Sherman this past summer-that was awesome.

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  6. I'd hang out with you, Joss Jackson, and Laurie Halse Anderson because you'd each have something different to offer and you'd all be great fun. :)

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  7. I would like to sit down to a tankard of mead with the person who first thought of writing down the Icelandic Sagas, particularly to ask them how much is fact and how much fiction.

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  8. I'd love to sit down and chat with John Steinbeck, partly because I love his writing, and partly because I share his obsession with pencils for writing.

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  9. I'd love to chat with Alton Brown. His cookbooks are educational and entertaining and funny.

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  10. Hmmm.... there are so many writers out there that I admire and would love to chat with that it's hard to pick just one. So many writers, so many great novels, I'm curious to find out how their mind works such that they can come up with such wonderful ideas and write so interestingly about them. *sigh* ... nope, can't pick just one.... Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, Charles deLint, Robert Heinlein, and the list goes on....

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  11. Oscar Wilde. No question about it.

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  12. C.S. Lewis. It's his fault (well, thinking up that wardrobe bit anyway) that I want to be a writer.

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  13. Jane Austen, I think, would be first on the list but I have always admired William Faulkner. For contemporary writers I think Roberta Gellis or Carla Kelly - wonderful writers. Of course, you Lynn so glad you are back writing your blog. I missed my daily fix.

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  14. Wow! That's unexpectedly kind of you, Lynn. I'm about to face my doc today for my annual physical, which is guaranteed to involve much unpleasant probing, and he'll be wondering why I'm grinning.

    As long as you're talking about the book, let me provide a link to the page where you can read an excerpt, download a podcast and wallpaper, and check out a free offer of promo items for booksellers and libraries.

    And thanks again, Lynn. I really appreciate it.

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  15. I read the title of the book on your post and went-OMG, I need to get that TODAY.

    don't enter me, I'm just here to chat.

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  16. I'd love to ask many of the same writers above, but I'd also love to chat with Shakespeare. I want to know how he feels about characters like Romeo and Macbeth. I'd also like to ask him about leaving his wife and kiddies behind to pursue his career. I also wonder about how he thought of his work-pop culture or did he consider it work to last the ages?

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  17. Bill wrote: As long as you're talking about the book, let me provide a link to the page where you can read an excerpt, download a podcast and wallpaper, and check out a free offer of promo items for booksellers and libraries.

    Absolutely -- post them in comments or e-mail them to me and I'll add them to the post.

    You did a terrific job with this one, Bill. It was a true pleasure to read from first page to last.

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  18. This sounds like a great read. I would love to sit down for coffee and a chat with Ernest Hemingway.

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  19. I would love to pick Frank Peretti's mind. I love the way his characters are gritty and real and imperfect inside the Christian fiction genre. He doesn't preach to the choir.

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  20. Liz B9:45 AM

    I've always wanted to sit and have a chat with Agatha Christie or S.E. Henton.

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  21. Ooh...So many. But if I had to pick only one it would be William Shakespeare.

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  22. Anonymous10:12 AM

    Edgar Allan Poe. No, wait, Charles Dickens. Definitely Dickens. Um, strike that -- Shakespeare. Has to be William Shakespeare, right? I mean, come ON! But, then again, Poe would be so cool, especially for Halloween. Okay, definitely Poe. No, wait...

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  23. I would love to read this book - most of those writers seemed boring before your review. And I'd love to have a long chat with Pearl S. Buck.

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  24. Hmm. I'd really like to hang out with someone who starts writing 20 or 30 years from now because she (or he) was inspired by my books.

    Mark Twain would be fun. Or maybe see if Agatha Christie would tell me just where she disappeared to? Kate Douglas Wiggin. Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt. Isaac Asimov. So many choices . . .

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  25. Sounds like a fun book! Writers: I'd like to meet up with you and a bunch of other blog pals (Alison Kent, Jo Leigh, Shiloh Walker, Jordan Summers, Sasha White) and have an excellent time in the real world, but this would expose you to germs, so...hurrah for the internet.

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  26. I think I'd get the most intellectual stimulation from a chat with Voltaire, but if I could only choose one writer, I'd go with Mark Twain. I think I'd feel more at ease with Mr Clemens, whereas Monsieur Arouet was said to have a mean streak.

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  27. Oscar Wilde hands down. The reason is simple. His last words: Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.

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  28. Orson Wells, to talk about anything and everything.

    Joss Whedon to talk about the art of the story arc and the double reverse. (And maybe why he can't let a couple live happily ever after.)

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  29. Majorie Liu, Rob Thurman, Robert Crais and you are my top choices.

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  30. O. Henry. He could write a book in just a few pages, and always finish with a zinger ending. I would love to pick his brain.

    And Dorothy Parker, with her ascerbic wit and razor-harp retorts. I usually think of the right response to a barb about two days after the fact; she could do it with no hesitation.

    Oscar Wilde, for all of the above.

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  31. The authors that folks listed above would be interesting to pick their brains, although I have to go with Rosina Lippi/Sara Donati. She was the first author I contacted who wrote back to me, even sending encouragement, just a "Good Luck" in my writing endeavor, but I'll never forget. There have been other authors to offer hang-in-there's, but she was "my first".

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  32. Non-current authors?

    Hands down, Dorothy L. Sayers.

    Especially if she brought Lord Peter and Harriet with her ;o)

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  33. Maxwell Perkins. What fascinating insight to the writer's psyche and the reader's imagination.

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  34. There are so many authors I'd love to sit down and chat with, having a hard time choosing. I think Julia Quinn would be a total riot, she makes me laugh every time I read her books.

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  35. Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Maud Hart Lovelace, Toni Morrison - my list would be endless.

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  36. Anonymous3:52 PM

    Oh what a choice! Only one....not sure I could make that choice. Orson Scott Card, John Ringo, David Weber, Mercedes Lackey, Anne Mccaffrey, you (but most days your blog feels almost like a conversation :) ) Holly Lisle (who's blog also feels like conversation and offers lots of great tips!), Mark Twain, and Dr. Suess (A.K.A Theodore Geissel (sp?) ) Any of the above would be sure to have great pointers, and in my opinion be fun to chat with just in general.

    --Stephanie

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  37. Thanks for the great contest!

    My writer group would be L.J. Smith, Sue Grafton, Joss Whedon & you. If I could pick all of your brains (I'd give them back promise) I'd have no trouble finishing my wreck of a novel. :)

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  38. I'd love to treat J.K. Rowling to coffee, though if I ever met her I'd probably have a heart attack before I could even offer. :P I'd also would really like to chat with Louisa May Alcotte!

    ~TRA

    http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com

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  39. Susanne4:27 PM

    I would love to have one..or more..cup of teas with Eric Ambler. Love his books and I am re-reading them every year.

    Susanne

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  40. With so many books inspired by her and her stories I would pick Jane Austen.

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  41. clairecherven5:55 PM

    I would love to have a drink with F. Scott Fitzgerald and talk about THE GREAT GATSBY and what Princeton was like in 1910s.

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  42. Zenna Henderson. No question.

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  43. Ray Bradbury. I love his work, and at 90 years old, I know he would have wonderful stories to tell.

    If not, can I have Joss Whedon? I'm a total fangirl, and I think he's a brilliant writer.

    WRITERS GONE WILD sounds right up my alley!

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  44. Jack Kerouac definately.

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  45. I would love to have a cup of coffee either with John Green or Maureen Johnson from this time period. I would also love to have a cup of coffee with Edgar Allan Poe--especially if it's true that he met Abraham Lincoln.

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  46. Hmmm...cup of coffee? I think having a beer would be more appropriate if I were to sit down with Stephen King, but I would definitely love to pick his brain.

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  47. Athena9:56 PM

    I'd love to hang out with Herodotus. I'd like to hear his view on the Peloponnesian war in
    1st person.

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  48. I would love to sit down with Edgar Allan Poe, to understand the insanity that coursed through his head I would hope to get an insight as how to understand my own.

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  49. Emily Dickinson. No contest. Now that's a woman who had some secrets and was very forward thinking for her time. I have a hunch she would be fabulous to have a cup of tea with.

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  50. Oh my God. Dennis Lehane. My idol. Love him.

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  51. Atropa Rainwater2:38 PM

    Poe. Poe forever. Dahl was my first love as a child that I can remember, and there have been many flings with various authors and their works over the years, but my heart always returns to Edgar Allen.

    I'd love to sit and have coffee with him to not only explore the deep darkness and addictions the man had, but also the lighter side of him.

    His stories always inspire me, yet remind me that I'm not the craziest person on the planet. And even if I am, I can still write a good story! :)

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  52. I'd settle for any author really:p The fact that they made it into publishing when so many don't is amazing. But if I'd have to choose there is still a few: Sylvia Plath (okay, she was a poet, but so what?), Edgar Allen Poe, Holly Lisle, Michelle Rowen, Suzanne Collins, Lauren Oliver, Ayn Rand...

    So many authors, so little time.

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  53. Tolstoy, because his characterization is so phenomenal.

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  54. I'd love to meet Jane Austen or Jennifer Fallon. Very different authors from different time periods and different genres, but I love both of their works.

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  55. Tacitus.

    Because I want to ask him some questions about the stuff he left out. ;)

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  56. I'd like to sit down with Wilkie Collins! :)

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  57. I'd like to make it a foursome for tea. Assuming the language barrier could be breached (easy, compared to summoning up the dead) I'd like to sit down with 3 travel writers.

    First, Herodotus, who wrote The Histories around 130 BC. Second, Ibn Battuta who wrote Rihla (The Journey) around 1355 AD. Last, Marco Polo, who wrote Il Milione (The Million, or the Travels of Marco Polo) around 1477 AD.

    I'd like to ask them what was factual in their books, what they observed rather then just heard about, and what they think of each others books.

    Once then got talking I'd like to just sit back and listen as the three greatest story tellers in history tried to beat each other in a tale spinning contest.

    Maybe I'd ad one more - I'd toss in William S. Burroughs just to spice it up.

    - KrisW

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