Angela M is taking a break.'s Reviews > Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice

5 stars is just not enough. I am not a writer but, I did not hesitate in the least to accept a digital review copy of this book when it was offered. If I were asked to name my favorite contemporary writers, Colum McCann would without a doubt be on that list. I knew that this would be beautifully written and it was.

This book was so meaningful to me even though I read this purely from the perspective of a an avid reader. It will change how I read a book from here on in. Whether it's a book I love or one not so much, McCann has given me a new respect for the writer, a respect for the intimate process that writing is, for all that it takes to put those words down, to order those words perfectly, to tell a story that can "whisper something beautiful in your ear".

I appreciated the quotes from various writers at the beginning of each chapter, but I mostly loved the things that McCann says about writers knowing "the most silent hour of the night ", about "this crafty sullen art" . I had goosebumps when he talks about the importance of language, urging the writer to "Listen for that quiet line." As a reader I'm always listening for "that quiet line" so this spoke to me , a reader whose favorite books are those that tell stories quietly.

Highly recommended to writers, old and young, to anyone who has loved a book by Colum McCann, actually to anyone who can say that reading is a part of who they are and believes in what McCann says , " Literature proposes possibilities and then makes truths of them. In storytelling we are given some of the most profound evidence of being alive ."

A million thanks to you Colum McCann for sharing so much of yourself here and in all you write. I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley,