Revisionaries
by Kristopher Jansma
Revisionaries: What We Can Learn From the Lost, Unfinished, and Just Plain Bad Work of Great Authors is a fun and interesting book for writers and for readers who like to know how authors work. It imparts twenty-one lessons to writers using the challenges and unfinished writings of classically regarded writers. Easily read and easily digestible, each chapter uses a different author to teach a different lesson.
These examples aren’t modern, and the diversity is limited. There’s a nice mix of male and female and Black and White authors, but other than the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector there are no Latinx authors. No Asian or Indian authors are represented. I would have liked a more widely inclusive list.
Having said that, the authors selected provided a nicely varied set of well-matched lessons. For instance:
- Octavia Butler teaches us that “Geniuses Get Blocked.”
- Sylvia Plath demonstrates the struggles that authors, especially women, face in nurturing a creative life in the face of daily pressures in “Geniuses Still Have to Do the dishes.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald teaches that “Geniuses Write Bad Drafts.”
I especially appreciated the thoughtful discussion of the myth that genius causes insanity and/or that geniuses must be insane. This book uses the troubled life of David Foster Wallace (TW for abuse as he was abusive to many women in his life) to argue that artists such as Wallace and Plath are geniuses in spite of, not because of, mental illness.
I would have liked it if this book delved deeper into systemic reasons why artists struggle, especially as pertains to women and people of color. And, as I mentioned, I would have lived a more inclusive selection of authors in general. However, I did enjoy what the book offered. Its small sections make it what I call an excellent Bathroom Book, which, as I’m sure my fellow IBS sufferers will understand, is high praise. Twenty-one pep talks does not leave a lot of room for in depth analysis, but I appreciated what I got, so I enjoyed this peek into the lives of authors.
– Carrie S
Find creative inspiration in this fascinating rummage through the wastebaskets, secret diaries, and abandoned files of 20 literary superstars.
If you like to write—whether it’s a pastime, a passion, or a profession—you’ve probably found yourself reading something brilliant and thinking, “I could never do this! I might as well give up.” But if there’s one thing every great author has in common, it’s they’ve all written some hot garbage.
Revisionaries takes you on an engrossing tour through the discarded drafts, false starts, and abandoned projects of influential writers. In the process, it dismantles some of our most deeply held—and most suffocating—ideas about what it takes to produce great creative work. You’ll learn:
– Franz Kafka lacked confidence
– Octavia Butler had writer’s block blocked
– F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote bad drafts
– Ralph Ellison got overwhelmed
– Louisa May Alcott got off to a bad start
– And more deep, dark secrets about the authors you most admire
Written by an award-winning novelist and creative-writing professor, Revisionaries is a compelling peek behind the scenes of genius for writers and readers alike.
Nonfiction
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