Sharon Osbourne - Extreme: My Autobiography
Ralph Keyes - The Writer's Book of Hope
Ansen Dibell - Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing)
:: , by Sharon Osbourne::
I bought this book on the spur of the moment, the other half of a 2-for-1 deal at WH Smith in the train station at Inverness, Scotland. (What, you didn't buy books on your honeymoon?) I didn't know she'd written a memoir mdash; it wasn't advertised as much in the US, I think mdash; and the girl behind the counter was a little taken aback by my, um, enthusiasm.
I've been a fan of Sharon since the first time I watched Ozzy's episode of VH1 Behind The Music and saw what a fiery, passionate, brilliant and borderline-insane woman the universe had chosen for his perfect match. Then there were the years of The Osbournes where she impressed me all over again, simultaneously making me laugh my ass off and cry my heart out. I'm not much into contemporary biographies written by other people but I love personal memoirs, and I knew hers would be a ride and a half.
Boy, was I right.
If you find Sharon's personality grating you probably won't enjoy this book. (But then, if you find Sharon's personality grating you probably wouldn't be reading it anyway.
) It reads exactly like she talks, as if she dictated most of it into a tape recorder and had the ghostwriter just put it down into print. For me, that was half the appeal. Her words are blunt, conversational, vulgar, hilarious and often poignant, but absolutely heartfelt from start to finish.
There were places where my jaw dropped, places where I ran into my husband's office and said "Honey, you have to hear this!", places where I curled my hands into fists around the cover because I was so angry on her behalf. I was hooked from the first page, read it in three nights, and stayed up till 3am to finish.
If you're a fan of Sharon and/or Ozzy, or if you enjoy unique memoirs told by unique people, this is definitely worth checking out. If nothing else, read it for the monkey statue story.
[The original part of my 2-for-1 deal, by the way, was Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith.
I was so stoked to get the UK paperback and I can't wait to read it. Especially since the third one just came out mdash; I can't keep up!]
:: , by Ralph Keyes::
At first I couldn't figure out if this actually was a really good book, or just one I really needed to read right now.
But then I realized, aren't they the same thing? The promise on the cover caught my eye and so did the description at Amazon. This is not a guide on how to write a book.
..it's a tool for writers who have found their courage and now need hope.
Well, I could definitely use some hope right about now. I didn't need another one of those "pick up your pen, you can do it, we're all writers inside" types of things this time. I've already got ideas in my head and words on paper, craptastic as both may be.
I just needed to know that what I've been thinking and feeling lately is normal, or at least as close an approximation to normal as writers ever get. Feelings of "if I actually had talent, wouldn't this be easier?" and "if I'm feeling this much dread, does that mean I'm on the wrong path?
" and "does everybody feel like this much of a fake?" mdash; he promised to reassure me of these questions, and reassure me he did.
This kind of book has to keep a very delicate balance: lean too far to one side and you sound condescending, preaching redundancy instead of offering hope; lean too far to the other and you've got bland, wishy-washy hand-holding, too spineless and vague to offer any solid help.
Keyes walks this tightrope perfectly. His style is clean and neat, his words succinct and intelligent but accessible. The tactic of "look, Famous Person X feels this too!
" might be overused, but it was used effectively and in perfect proportion here, along with a little psychology, a little common sense, and a lot of straight talk. This book delivers what it promises mdash; it puts hope and encouragement into your heart while simultaneously lighting a fire under your ass. Exactly what this floundering fish was groping for.
This is definitely one for my bookshelf.
:: , by Ansen Dibell::
I'm only 1/3 of the way through this, but so far I'm not impressed. It feels like a rehash of stuff I've read a hundred times before mdash which doesn't necessarily make it bad, just not up my alley.
I've never been a big fan of reducing good writing to rules and regulations, especially when those rules seem designed to strip fiction down to a skeletal speed-read (and the implication that anything else is a waste of time) . "A series of scenes with a minimum of explanation"? Doesn't sound like a novel I'd want to read.
I understand what she means and I get where she's coming from, but I guess her style of presentation just isn't meshing with my style of reception, at least not yet. So far she's just striking me as "this is what I do when I write, so you have to do it too or else your story will suck." The reason I gave this book a shot is because I own two other books in the Elements of Fiction series (Characters Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card and Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress), and they both make great shots in the arm.
This one feels more like being bludgeoned over the head with the syringe instead. I'll give her a couple more chapters to get past the introductory stuff and get into the meat mdash; if it doesn't grab me any tighter I might have to move on. My reading time is pretty tiny and precious, especially when it comes to books about writing.
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