James Wood: How Fiction Works

The section of the bookstore devoted to the craft of writing can be a lonely place, visited mainly by struggling young authors looking for a leg up. Many instructive volumes come in and many go unnoticed. Not so for How Fiction Works by literary critic James Wood.

The book was a publishing event when it was released last year -- a testament to his prominent place in literature. Before joining The New Yorker as staff writer and critic in 2007, Wood reviewed books for The New Republic and London's Guardian newspaper. He is now visiting professor of literary criticism at Harvard University.

How Fiction Works is a love letter to the novel, a heartfelt appreciation that is part study and part instruction manual. The book plumbs four centuries of the novel, from Cervantes to Updike, analyzing voice, detail, scene, dialogue, character, consciousness and the creativity required to breathe life into static creations.

James Wood will be reading at River Run bookstore in Portsmouth tonight. But first, he graciously agreed to join us on Word of Mouth.