On an impulse, while finalizing the prep for my first ever fiction-only upper-level seminar (on postcolonial fiction), I started reading it, and. Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode (from indie press Catapult) was one of these. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let's leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. I have yet to get around to reading so many of these impulse buys (mostly of books I’m quite happy to now own). Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions.
Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her "museum of specimens" include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel García Márquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison. Sebald's Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc- or, in nature, wave. Outlets such as Brevity, Catapult, and Lithub publish craft essays online. But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculosexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Jane Alisons Meander, Spiral, Explode explores narrative structure. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: "For centuries there's been one path through fiction we're most likely to travel- one we're actually told to follow-and that's the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let’s leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. Anyone who reads stands to appreciate her argument that the primary way most of us are taught that fiction ought to be structuredFreytag’s famous.
#MEANDER SPIRAL EXPLODE CATAPULT PROFESSIONAL#
Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her “museum of specimens” include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel García Márquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison. 'You don’t have to be a professional writer to enjoy novelist Jane Alison’s brilliant new craft guide Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative, published by Catapult Press.
#MEANDER SPIRAL EXPLODE CATAPULT MANUAL#
Sebald’s Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc-or, in nature, wave. A thought-provoking manual for writers, critics, and casual readers alike.' The Atlantic, One of the Best Books of the Year 'You don’t have to be a professional writer to enjoy novelist Jane Alison’s brilliant new craft guide Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative, published by Catapult Press. But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculosexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Alison asserts that the best stories follow patterns in nature, and by defining these new styles she offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive." ―Maris Kreizman, VultureĪ Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019 | A Poets & Writers Best Books for WritersĪs Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s been one path through fiction we’re most likely to travel― one we’re actually told to follow―and that’s the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides. "How lovely to discover a book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read.
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