BOOKS RECOMMENDED IN BOOKS
Tom Bissell on John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist
It is probably the most important book I have ever read — or rather the most important book ever read by the aspiring writer who became the person writing this sentence. Gardner, an erratically brilliant novelist, solid short-story writer, under appreciated critic, legendary creative-writing teacher, habitual animadvert, massive hypocrite, and awe-inspiring pain in the ass, died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 49 in 1982, having written more than thirty books; Novelist is one of the last he completed.
