| In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal | 
 enlarge | Creators: Judith Kitchen, Mary Paumier Jones
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $4.95
You Save: $9.00 (65%)
New (29) Used (47) from $4.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 36976
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0393319075
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.5408
EAN: 9780393319071
ASIN: 0393319075
Publication Date: June 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Tight copy, cover and edge wear, sticker on back, 100% guarantee, ships on same or next day
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
An exciting new anthology by the editors of the popular In Short, about which Publishers Weekly said: "Even readers skeptical of short-attention-span publishing will find these shorts addictive." In their previous collection Judith Kitchen and Mary Paumier Jones coined the term "short" for those creative nonfiction pieces --literary rather than informational, and characteristically short --that are attracting our finest writers. Now, with a more introspective focus, this new collection emphasizes the personal as "a way of seeing the world, of expressing an interior life. It is intimate without being maudlin, it is private without being secret." From Harriet Doerr's recollection of a halcyon time to Josephine Jacobsen's reverie on memory, In Brief offers vivid glimpses into the ways experience can be shaped in language that is fresh and inventive. The seventy-two authors here include the known --John McPhee, Cythia Ozick, James Salter --as well as remarkable new writers. Essays (all under 2000 words) range from Frank McCourt's search for his father in the pubs of Limerick to William Maxwell's thoughts about growing old; from Charles Baxter's early experience of reading to Brady Udall's confession as a liar. Patricia Hampl recalls meals at her grandmother's house, while Jane Brox contemplates the meaning of bread. In each piece, imagination becomes a way to explore reality. The real world we are fortunate enough to live in is revealed as endlessly rich and deep.
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| Customer Reviews:
Delightful June 18, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
An object lesson in how to cut to the chase; an example of tiny bites of beautiful writing; the art of the flash essay. By whatever name you call it, In Brief is proof that a piece of writing sometimes needn't be more than a paragraph or two in length to move readers and give them something profound, funny, enlightening, or beautiful to take away with them. This refreshing collection of teensy personal essays is a real winner.
Too Busy To Read March 28, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a great book if you like to read but you never feel you have the time. These stories can each be read in a matter of minutes. This was a textbook for my creative non-fiction class and I think there are some great examples of the creative non-fiction format. The only downside I would say is that most of the stories are of a serious nature, so while the stories are short, I wouldn't call it 'light' reading.
A Review of In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal May 21, 2000
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I find this book an excellent companion to Kitchen's and Jones' first book on the creative nonfiction "short" entitled, In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction. The evolution of creative nonfiction and the "short" is apparent in these pages. No longer is it mandatory that a literary journalist or creative nonfiction writer "immerse" the reader in a person, place or thing. These pieces of creative nonfiction show that writers can make a simple journal entry, letter, or, for that fact, an email, stand on its own -- that even the smallest episode in our lives, or simple everyday pictures we've taken with our mind's eye, can have "symbolic realities." As a person who reads and writes prose and poetry, I find the brevity, and yet complexity, of the works appealing. Mary Oliver, who I've enjoyed as a poet, turns a poetic list of items she finds at the beach into a prose piece on beauty and existence. Kimberly Gorall turns a brief childhood conversation with her mother into a statement about womanhood. William Heyen uses one simple paragraph explaining the habits of an insect to an analogy on creativity and imagination. A bright high school senior, Janice Best (editor of Elan), uses an ingenius email format to try to explain why she writes. All of these "shorts" have a similar element -- they start with detail -- an intense focus -- and they end making a statement about our human existence. I have been liberated by the form presented in these pages -- and plan to teach college students using this book as a reader. But I believe any one who enjoys learning about the 'human condition' will enjoy this book. It's a quick read, but the impact of the material here lasts a long time.
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