What Lee Child Reminded Me About Writing
Lee Child — clarity, restraint, and trusting the reader.
Stephen King: The Writer Who Taught Me to Read Differently
Stephen King shaped how I think about reading long before I understood why. Not through genre or popularity, but through discipline, attention, and a serious respect for the page. His work taught me that reading well is not passive, it’s a practice that sharpens thought, patience, and awareness.
His book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is part autobiography, part writing manual, and fully a reflection of the commitment behind his work. Early in the book, King offers a sharp reminder:
“You must not come lightly to the blank page.”
The weight of that line deepens when you consider the circumstances in which the book was completed. In June of 1999, while walking along a rural road near his home in Maine, King was struck by a van and thrown several feet off the road, sustaining life-threatening injuries. At the time, he was only halfway through the first draft of On Writing. His account of the accident and the long, painful recovery that followed is as compelling as any of his fiction, and it reveals how seriously he took his own advice about returning to the work.
The book covers far more than that near-death experience. It traces his childhood, early struggles, marriage, and eventual breakthrough with Carrie. It also dives into the mechanics of writing, how sentences work, why adverbs usually don’t, and what it takes to find your voice. As you read, you’re not just learning about writing; you’re learning through writing. His life becomes the lesson.
One line in particular shifted how I think about reading and writing:
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
That principle took time to settle in. I came to understand that reading isn’t just entertainment, it’s education. King helped me see that reading widely, not only from so-called “classic literature,” but from strong storytelling in any form, is essential to developing your own voice.
His influence changed how I read and, over time, how I think. I still enjoy many of his books, though a few unsettled me more than I expected. Christine and Revival stayed with me long after I finished them. Fear, I learned, can sharpen attention and reveal truths we might otherwise avoid.
What matters most isn’t genre or reputation. It’s the way a writer’s discipline, curiosity, and respect for the page quietly shape your habits of thought. King didn’t just teach me how to write more seriously. He taught me how to read with purpose, and how to return to the work, even when it’s difficult.
Stephen R. Covey: Leadership, Legacy, and the Power of Clear Values →
Stephen R. Covey is one of the most impactful communicators I’ve encountered in person. His work on leadership, values, and personal responsibility helped define a generation of personal development thinking, but what stayed with me most was his insistence that leadership begins with character.
I had the opportunity to speak alongside Covey at a church event in 1990, not long after the release of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What I witnessed wasn’t simply an effective presentation—it was a lesson in presence. He spoke without notes, moved with intention, and connected with the audience in a way that felt grounded rather than performative. His credibility came not from technique, but from belief.
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
That line captures the essence of Covey as a communicator. He listened as much as he spoke. He treated communication not as persuasion, but as respect. The audience felt seen before being led.
Covey’s influence continues to shape how I think about communication—not as a skill to master, but as an extension of who we are. Long before the language of authenticity became common, he demonstrated that clarity, trust, and connection begin with character.
Lisa Genova →
Before I understood how deeply Lisa Genova’s work would shape my thinking about identity, empathy, and loss, I first encountered her through Still Alice. Published in 2007, the novel brought Alzheimer’s disease into public conversation with unusual intimacy and clarity, setting the tone for the work that followed.
Genova’s background matters here. She studied biopsychology at Bates College and later earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard. That scientific grounding gives her novels a precision that is rare in contemporary fiction, but it never eclipses the human story. The science is present, quietly doing its work, while the lives at the center remain fully human.
Across her novels, Genova has written about conditions that are often misunderstood or avoided, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Huntington’s disease, autism, and traumatic brain injury. Rather than treating these diagnoses as plot devices, she writes from inside them. Her aim has always been accuracy, empathy, and visibility for people whose experiences are too often reduced to fear or abstraction.
I’ve reviewed several of her books on this site, including Every Note Played, and over time, her work has become a reference point for how fiction can educate without instructing, and illuminate without simplifying.
It’s also been gratifying to see engagement from authors whose work has appeared here. On occasion, Genova, along with writers such as Harold Bloom and Tara Westover, has acknowledged posts on this site. Those moments are small, but meaningful reminders that writing travels further than we expect.
www.lisagenova.com
See Reviews, Click on Books
A thank you note from Lisa Genova
Lisa Genova: Author Feedback and New Book →
Originally written in November 2024, this post gathers early notes, background, and reviews related to Lisa Genova’s work. It now sits alongside a later reflection in the Writers Who Shaped How I Think series (January 2025).
Lisa Genova is an American author best known for writing contemporary fiction centered on people living with neurological and psychological conditions. Long before her work became a consistent point of reference for me as a reader and writer, her novels stood out for their unusual balance of scientific precision and emotional restraint.
Genova made her fiction debut in 2007 with Still Alice, a novel that went on to become an award-winning title and a New York Times bestseller. The book helped bring Alzheimer’s disease into public conversation not as an abstract diagnosis, but as a lived, interior experience—setting the foundation for the work that followed.
Her academic background informs that approach. Genova graduated as valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and later earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University. That training gives her novels a level of accuracy that is rare in contemporary fiction, but it never overwhelms the human story. The science remains present but quiet, in service of character rather than exposition.
Across her body of work, Genova has written about conditions that are often misunderstood, feared, or ignored. Her novels explore Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Huntington’s disease, autism, traumatic brain injury, and bipolar disorder, among others. Rather than treating these diagnoses as plot devices, she uses fiction to demystify them—inviting readers to see the person first, not the illness.
Over time, several of Genova’s books have been reviewed on this site, including Every Note Played. Reading her work in sequence reveals a consistent intention: to write with accuracy, empathy, and respect for the dignity of people whose lives are shaped by neurological change.
It has also been meaningful to see engagement from authors whose work appears here. On occasion, Genova—along with writers such as Harold Bloom and Tara Westover—has acknowledged posts connected to this site. These moments are small, but they serve as reminders that writing circulates beyond its original moment and sometimes returns in unexpected ways.
This post remains as a record of early encounters, reviews, and context surrounding Genova’s work—now complemented by a more reflective examination of her influence within the Writers Who Shaped How I Think series.
+++ Thanks for the recent Twitter “Like-Backs” from Lisa Genova, Harold Bloom, and Tara Westover, who were reported on recently. Thanks to the authors.
Will Durrant is a favorite and influencial author →
Will Durant has long interested me not simply as a historian or philosopher, but as a writer deeply concerned with the human soul—its fears, contradictions, longings, and quiet search for meaning. Across decades of writing, Durant returned again and again to the same enduring questions: how we live with mortality, how we educate ourselves beyond information, and how wisdom differs from knowledge. His work does not aim to impress with systems or abstractions, but to understand what it means to be human across time.
Quotes
“The fear of death is strangely mingled with the longing for repose.”
"I found it impossible to continue my pretenses to orthodoxy."
Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.”
“Education is the transmission of civilization.”
“To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say.”
“Truth will make us free.”
(This could be considered his most important work)
Fallen Leaves could be considered one of Durant’s most important works. He wrote its preface at the age of ninety-five, addressing readers who might expect a final, definitive philosophy. Instead, he offered a modest clarification:
“Please do not expect any new system of philosophy, nor any world-shaking cogitations; these will be human confessions, not divine revelations; they are micro- or mini-essays whose only dignity lies in their subjects rather than in their profundity or their size.”
Even as Durant downplays the depth of what follows, the book leaves the reader waiting—not for grand conclusions, but for recognition. The twenty-two short chapters distill more than sixty years of engagement with philosophy, religion, art, science, and history, returning repeatedly to the human condition rather than abstract theory.
His writings included thoughts about the soul.
He confirmed his love of and insight into the value of history, saying: “It is a mistake to think that the past is dead. Nothing that has ever happened is quite without influence at this moment. The present is merely the past rolled up and concentrated in this second of time. You, too, are your past; often, your face is your autobiography; you are what you are because of what you have been, because of your heredity stretching back into forgotten generations, and because of every element of the environment that has affected you, every man or woman that has met you, every book that you have read, every experience that you have had; all these are accumulated in your memory, your body, your character, your soul. So with a city, a country, and a race, it is its past and cannot be understood without it.”
“The Story of Civilization”: 11 volumes considers the living conditions of everyday people. Durant said that curious readers had challenged him to speak his mind on the timeless questions of human life and fate, having spent so much of his life focusing on just that.
Is the Human Soul Eternal, and is it transcendent of our material existence? by Brent M. Jones was inspired by Will Durrant
Durant shaped how I think by reminding me that the study of history, philosophy, and ideas only matters insofar as it deepens our understanding of the human soul.
Maya Angelou - A Favorite Author →
Maya Angelou’s life and work have always struck me as inspirational—not only for what she endured, but for how she transformed experience into meaning. Her writing matters not just to women or to a particular moment in history, but to humanity itself, because it insists on dignity, voice, and shared feeling in the face of pain.
When I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published in 1969, Angelou was recognized as a new kind of memoirist. She wrote herself into the center of her own story at a time when Black women were rarely allowed that position in literature. As scholar Hilton Als has noted, Black female writers had long been marginalized, their inner lives pushed to the edges. Angelou changed that by speaking plainly, courageously, and without apology.
Her autobiographical work has sometimes been described as autobiographical fiction—not because it distorted truth, but because it stretched beyond the individual. Angelou often wrote in the first person singular while meaning something collective. When she said “I,” she was also saying “we.” In that way, her work echoes the slave narrative tradition and the oral storytelling roots of her poetry, carrying personal experience outward until it became communal truth.
Angelou did not write to comfort readers with easy reassurance. Her poems and reflections were not feel-good platitudes, but lived truths—about fear, survival, love, and resilience—that could be felt as much as read. Her language drew from everyday speech and lived experience, grounding her work in the world rather than above it.
In 2011, Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom, recognizing a lifetime of cultural and moral influence. Yet her legacy reminds me that lasting impact is not reserved for the famous. We are remembered, often quietly, by how we make others feel—by whether we listen, whether we care, whether we leave people more human than we found them.
Angelou shaped how I think by showing that personal truth, honestly spoken, can become a shared inheritance—and that bearing witness to one life can help illuminate many.
Quotes
“People will forget what you have said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
"Do the best you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better."
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
“I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me, 'I love you.'
An African saying, “ Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”
Click on book covers to see reviews.
Michael Connelly →
Michael Connelly writes with a level of detail that commands full attention. His stories work because he knows the world he’s describing—and because he sees his characters clearly. He writes from inside their experience, observing how things actually unfold rather than how crime fiction sometimes imagines they do.
That authenticity helped bring early attention to Connelly and his detective Harry Bosch in 1994, when Bill Clinton was photographed leaving a bookstore with The Concrete Blonde in hand. A meeting between the two followed soon after, but the moment mattered less for the publicity than for what it signaled: these books felt grounded in reality, not spectacle.
The Bosch novels were later adapted into the television series Bosch, with Titus Welliver portraying the detective. The show’s longevity speaks to the same quality found in the books—a sustained attention to character, consequence, and the lived texture of the work.
Connelly’s influence on my thinking comes from that commitment to accuracy and restraint. He reminds me that convincing storytelling begins with knowing the details—and respecting the reality of the people who live inside them.
Click below to link to reviews on this site
Fair Warning, by Michael Connelly
The Crossing by Michael Connelly (Bosch)
The Black Box by Michael Connelly
The Drop by Michael Connelly
Click Books or titles to Link.
Toni Morrison, 'Beloved' Author and Nobel Laureate, →
Toni Morrison, 'Beloved' author and Nobel Laureate, dies at 88 - August 5th 2019
Toni Morrison
At the age of 33, Toni Morrison found herself back at her parents' home in Ohio, jobless, divorced, and with one child and another on the way. This was a challenging time but also the beginning of a remarkable journey of resilience and determination.
Today, she is one of the most respected American writers, an editor, teacher, and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. She has won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She is known for her plays "Desdemona" and "Dreaming Emmett" and her movies "A Moment in Time,” "Conversations with Legendary Women,” and "African American Women of Achievement.”
Toni Morrison's writing style is not just about narrating African-American problems and issues, it's about vividly illustrating them. She achieves this without sacrificing the richness of traditional language, a feat that enlightens readers about the depth of her storytelling.
She has written many books, but three stood out: Beloved, The Bluest Eye, and Song of Solomon. Beloved showed us how black Americans repressed and denied the experience of slavery. It was inspired by a true story and is considered her most challenging book, one that some critics say they felt they experienced slavery.
She said in her book: "In hindsight, I think what is important about it is the process by which we construct and deconstruct reality to be able to function in it.”
Morrison's perspective, as expressed in Beloved, resonates with my own. I believe in the transformative power of storytelling. When we write our life stories, we are not just recounting events but reshaping our reality. This act of storytelling empowers us to see how one event can influence another and how our perception of ourselves can evolve.
Click on titles to see these reviews *
Quotes by Toni Morrison
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
“At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”
“Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”
“In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”
Dr. Seuss, a favorite author + 9 Quotes and More →
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker. Best known under the pen name Dr. Seuss, he wrote and illustrated more than 60 books that became cornerstones of modern children’s literature. His playful rhyme, imaginative characters, and rhythmic storytelling shaped generations of young readers and continue to inspire curiosity, kindness, and creativity.
Geisel’s works weren’t just whimsical—they were layered with gentle wisdom and thoughtful observations about fairness, courage, and seeing the world through fresh eyes. From The Cat in the Hat to Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, his stories blended fun with meaning in a way few authors have matched. His influence stretches beyond books into animation, film, education, and popular culture, making him one of the most beloved literary figures of the twentieth century.
Dr. Seuss Quotes & More
Sometimes, you will only know the value of a moment once it becomes a memory.
Why fit in when you’re born to stand out,
You are you; that is true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you
The more you read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll GO.
Only you can control your future.
So be sure when you STEP, Step with CARE and great TACT. And remember that LIfe’s A great Balancing ACT!
Take every chance, and drop every fear.
Today, I shall behave as if this is the day I will be Remembered.
You can find MAGIC wherever you look. Sit back and RELAX. All you NEED is a BOOK.
……………………….AND MORE
Sam-I-Am wants his friend Guy-Am-I to eat a plate of green eggs and ham. Guy says , "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am." Using the same 50 words this is repeated throughout the story as Sam just keeps asking. Does this story have a moral? Yes, persistence may be the message. In the end Sam gets the guy to try the Green Eggs and Ham and he likes them.
Quotes
I will not eat them in a house, I will not eat them with a mouse, I will not eat them in a box, I will not eat them with a fox, I will not eat them here or there, I will not eat them anywhere, I do not like green eggs and ham I do not like them, Sam I am.
I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.
Harlan Coben →
Harlan Coben was born on January 4, 1962. He writes mystery and thriller novels. His books pull you in quickly, and you don’t have to wait until halfway through to reach the point where you don’t want to put the book down. His skill in crafting a plot is tops.
I like his quote; only bad writers think they are good. Do you have to ask if having his 25 million dollar net worth gives him better insight?
He was born in 1962. His website is harlancoben.com, and he has 70 million books in print.
For more on this author, see his gallery https://www.harlancoben.com/gallery/.
Click on Book or Book names below to see the Review
The Boy From The Woods
Caught
Six Years
Official Harlan Coben Website
www.harlancoben.com
James Patterson →
I ponder the question of including James Patterson in a list of favorite authors. He isn’t a favorite author of mine, but I initially put him here, and latter took him off the top banner of this page. He has written so many books that have sold so well it is hard to ignore him. They are well done, but I don’t go back for more.
Patterson, James, Kill Me If You Can
Patterson, Jame ,CrossFiree
Patterson, James, Target
Patterson, James, 1st To Die Patterson,
James & Clinton, Bill, The President is Missing ***
Patterson & Marklund, The Postcard Killers
Patterson & Raymond, Humans Bow Down **
*** 7 books, the ones with* I especially liked
James Brendan Patterson was born on March 22, 1947. His Facebook page is @jamespatterson. & his website is www.jamespatterson.com
In 2016, Patterson topped Forbes s list of highest-paid authors for the third consecutive year, with an income of $95 million. His estimated net worth is over $750 million.
David Baldacci →
David Baldacci was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from Henrico High School and earned a BA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, after which he practiced law for nine years in Washington, DC.
While practicing law, he turned to novel writing, taking three years to write Absolute Power. Published in 1996, it was an international bestseller. Baldacci has published 36 best-selling novels for adults and six books for younger readers.
One estimate of his net worth was 45 million dollars. He says that he has been writing since childhood when his mother gave him a lined notebook to write down his stories. Fan, since I read 14 of his books at this writing and reviewed them here in the Book Review section, I have asked myself why I like his books. The main reason is that they make sense and hold my attention. I have reviewed some authors that have kept my attention for twice this many books, but the last few seem like they could be better. No so with David Baldacci.
Click Titles Below to link to Reviews
Baldacci, David, Walk The Wire
Baldacci, David, The Fix
Baldacci, David, The Hit
Baldacci, David, One Summer
Baldacci, David, The Simple Truth
Baldacci, David, Total Control
Baldacci, David, Last Man Standing
Baldacci, David, No Man’s Land
Baldacci, David, Simple Genius
Baldacci, David, First Family
Baldacci, David, The Long Road to Mercy
Baldacci, David, The Winner
Baldacci, David One Good Deed
Baldacci, David Memory Man
Dean Koontz →
Dean Koontz compares Real Life & Fiction by Brent M. Jones
In Dean Koontz's book, The Crooked Staircase, the little boy Travis is hiding out in a fortified bunker below the ground with Cornell, an "End of Times" fanatic who does not need the world above and is spending his days reading.
Cornell has just finished reading the work of philosopher Immanuel Kant. On his table is Nero Wolfe mystery, a fictional character created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout.
He mentions his interest in reading all one hundred twenty-plus books of Henry James, having found "The Turn of the Screw" very screwy.
Cornell says he understands lying low as he mentions the Wolfe stories. Gavin leans forward in his chair and says, "This is real life now, Cornell. Real bad people, a real threat, not a story by Dickens."
Cornell replies, "There is no meaningful difference, cousin. Plato might agree. Except he's dead. When I return to reading fiction, which I hope to do in just a minute or two, it is my real life.
Did Koontz use this dialog to shape an eccentric character or put action novels on more par with the classics?
Books Reviewed on this Site Click Title to Link
The City
The Forbidden Door
The Good Guy
The Crooked Staircase
Demon Seed
The Silent Corner
The Taking
The Husband
Odd Hours
Watchers
Intensity
Ashley Bell
Devoted
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. →
Steinbeck said that “to write well about something, you had to either love it or hate it very much, and that, in a sense, was a mirror of his personality.”
The acceptance points directly to the points of criticism that many expressed. Swedish newspapers said the award was "one of the Academy's biggest mistakes.” The New York Times referred to his books as “watered down by tenth-rate philosophizing.”
Steinbeck said of writing that “to write well about something you had to either love it or hate it very much, and that in a sense was a mirror of his own personality.”
His first financial success was with the writing of Tortilla Flat in 1935. Before that he made his living as a carpenter, ranch hand, factory laborer, sales clerk, caretaker and reporter, and was also given financial assistance by his father in the hope that he would develop his craft.
See Reviews
Lee Child →
SEE THE VIDEO ABOUT LEE CHILD, HIS RETIREMENT, AND MORE
Interesting Fact / Someone, somewhere, buys one of Child Jack Reacher’s crime thrillers every 13 seconds.
Jan 17, 2020
Lee Child quits and lets their brother step in' The author of the Jack Reacher series of novels is retiring and handing over the writing duties to his brother.
Before I write about this fantastic writer, I must confess I am an addict. I never finished one of his books without recognizing the terrific plot.
See the YouTube discussion of Lee Child Book by the Site Author Brent Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnj_IzEWksA&feature=share
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnj_IzEWksA&feature=youtu.be
You don’t see it coming. You don’t want to put the book down. In addition, regarding my confession, I never expected to read this many books from a series of books.
James D. "Jim" Grant, is best known by his pen name Lee Child. (Maybe once he was best known that way but he is now Lee Child, amazing writer) He was a Television director who became a British author when he was fired in 1995 at the age of 40 as a result of corporate restructuring. (You can’t be all bad if you have been fired, by the way)
Always a voracious reader, he bought six dollars’ worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write the book, Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.
He started writing novels and said of them that they are "the purest form of entertainment." (He proved that one is still true)
Killing Floor was published in 1997, and he moved to the United States in the summer of 1998 ‘‘Child is best known for his Jack Reacher novel series about this former American Military Policeman described as being 6 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 250 pounds and having a 50-inch chest. (Child is 6’4”)
Reacher grew up on military bases and served all of his life until leaving in his mid thirties. He now wanders the United States and the world but carries no luggage. When his clothes get dirty he just goes to the local stores and buy more and just puts his old ones in the trash.
Child has referred to these books as revenge stories – "Somebody does a very bad thing, and Reacher takes revenge."
Child’s writing style is, like Reacher, that of a rogue. He says that rather than follow the advice to “show not tell” he is perfectly willing to have his character look in the mirror and tell us what he sees. Rather than not talk about the weather he says if that is what is on the mind of his character then he starts with it.
As for creating suspense he said—”it all boils down to asking a question and making people wait for the answer.”
See full list (in order) of Jack Reacher Books
All Reviewed on this Site. Most with Links embedded in titles
Killing Floor, Die Trying, Tripwire, Running Blind, Echo Burning, Without Fail, Persuader, The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, Bad Luck and Trouble, Nothing to Lose, Gone Tomorrow, 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, The Affair, A Wanted Man, Never Go Back, Personal, Make Me, Night School, No Middle Name, The Midnight Line, Past Tense, Nothing To Lose. Blue Moon
Is C.S. Lewis a Literary Influence →
Is C.S. Lewis a Literary Influence? Is having a legacy the same as having a Literary Influence?
Lewis does indeed have a legacy. He is best known for his writings in the area of fantasy, especially his sci-fi trilogy and religion.
His fantasy works still have power over 50 years since his death. For example, the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe resonate with many and still endures. Lewis’s writings about his conversion to Christianity and thoughts about Christianity are prolific and have had a strong influence.
According to Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lewis is not considered an academic theologian but "in what you might call pastoral theology: as an interpreter of people's moral and spiritual crises; as somebody who is a brilliant diagnostician of self-deception."
Whether the Archbishop is correct in his opinion, much of Lewis’s writing does have broad appeal. “The Screwtape Letters” may be the best example, where his wise inquiry into temptation is cast as a series of witty letters between a demon and his apprentice.
“Mere Christianity” is a book that might confirm the Archbishop’s view, but then it was based on a series of BBC radio talks Lewis gave during the second world war, and it may not be fair to judge his writings on Christianity based on it.
Lewis didn’t have a lot of good things to say about poets, and some say that this is because he had not succeeded as a poet.
Other areas of focus were as a children's writer, novelist, memoirist, essayist, critic, broadcaster, and apologist. So yes, C.S. Lewis had an enormous literary influence. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University and Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. He wrote more than thirty books: just the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Click on the Covers Below to see Reviews.
In 1962 The Christian Century magazine published C.S. Lewis’s answer to the question, “What books did most to shape your vocational latitude and your philosophy of life?” Here is is list.
Phantastes by George MacDonald 2. The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton. 3. The aeneid by Virgil 4. The Temple by George Herbert 5 The Prelude by William Wordsworth, 6. The Idea of the Holy by Rudolf Otto 7. The onsolation of Philosophy by Boethius, 8. Life of Samuel JoHnson by James Boswell 9 Descent into Hell by Charles Williams 10 Theism and Humanism by Arthur Jamers Balfour
Louis L'Amour →
Louis L'Amour said, "I think of myself in the oral tradition as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of the campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered- as a storyteller. A good storyteller."
When L'Amour died, he had sold over 200 million books, which is now well over 300 million. To ask what his influence was is redundant, considering these staggering sales. People liked him.
Critics said of his travels after he left home at 15 and his comments about all that he saw, especially all that he read during that time, as just L'Amour taking a license to talk about whatever he wanted. This is pretty sad.
The book that tells us about L'Amour is "The Education of a Wandering Man" For me reading was a turning point in seeing L'Amour's real depth and becoming a fan. It also brought back much of what I had loved about reading and re-started my reading obsession.
Almost all of the other successful Western Writers say they were influenced by L'Amour in one way or another and had to consider him as they developed their place in that genre. His plot approach and mastery of his genre are masterful.
L'Amour did more for the Western category as a distinct form of composition that brings its unique place in the whole body of literature than any other author.
Click below to link to Reviews.
"The Education of a Wandering Man."
"The Empty Land"
See L'Amour's Poem "I'm A Stranger Here" Reviewed
"Smoke From This Altar"
See Review of Hondo
See Review of Down The Long Hills
Mustang Man
Yondering
John Grisham →
John Ray Grisham Jr.
February 8, 1955 (age 63)
Jonesboro, Arkansas, U.S.
Education Mississippi State University (BS)
University of Mississippi School of Law (JD)
John Grisham is an American novelist, attorney, politician, and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide.
Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from January 1984 to September 1990
Grisham's career started about the same time as Stephen King, and both of them were helped when their early books were made into movies. Carrie with King and The Firm with Grisham. They have been friends and spoken together at times where they have given some credit to how the film made them better known. The genre of John Grisham is something he has perfected. A genre is a category of artistic composition characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter, and Grisham's is very familiar, and even addictive, to those of us that have read many of his books.
To see reviews of these books, click on the covers
Professor Harold Bloom →
Professor Harold Bloom: July 11, 1930 -October 14, 2019
He was likely, no, he must have been, the most knowledgeable Shakespeare Scholar on the planet.
(See Shakespeare’s Literary Favorite Click Here)
An American literary critic and Sterling Professor of Humanities and English at Yale University. He wrote more than forty books, including twenty books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and a novel.
Bloom considered Shakespeare the ultimate center of the Western canon and even said he was only a parody of Falstaff.” (See Falstaff Review Click Here) The pictures used to portray Falstaff do seem to resemble Bloom.
Bloom's theory was that people tend ultimately to be either more Hamlet (see Hamlet review Click Here), “an abyss, a chaos of virtual nothingness,” or Falstaff, overflowing with vitality and endless laughter, for whom “the self is everything. “
His book "Shakespeare The Invention of the Human" (see review click here) says that Shakespeare's vocabulary of 22,000 words is so infinite that it proves he knew pretty much everything there is to tell about humankind. That he, therefore, “invented the human.”
In an interview published in 1995, Bloom reflected on the great authors of the Western world, stating: "We have to read Shakespeare, and we have to study Shakespeare. We have to study Dante. We have to read Chaucer. We have to read Cervantes. We have to read the Bible, at least the King James Bible. We have to read certain authors.… They provide an intellectual; I dare say, the spiritual value that has nothing to do with organized religion or the history of institutional belief. They remind us in every sense of reminding us. They do not only tell us things that we have forgotten, but they tell us things we couldn’t possibly know without them, and they reform our minds. They make our minds stronger. They make us more vital."
Click Book to See Review
Bloom Categories Include
20th & 21st Century Educators, 20th & 21st Century American Writers, American Literary Critics, New York University Faculty, Yale Sterling Professor, Shakespearean Scholars, Yale University Faculty, Jewish Scholars, Jewish American Academics, Critics of Postmodernism,
