{"product_id":"dear-mister-essay-writer-guy-isbn-9781607748090","title":"Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy","description":"Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy,\u003cbr\u003eI have a hot crush on the em dash. What does my need to stuff—while simultaneously fracturing—my sentences—with the meandering, the explanatory, the discursive, the perhaps not-entirely-necessary—say about me?  \u003cbr\u003e—Cheryl Strayed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHave you ever wished there were an advice columnist for writers, but one who didn’t take things so damned seriously? This unique writing guide pairs questions sent in by top contemporary essayists with hilariously witty answers and essays from acclaimed author Dinty W. Moore. Phillip Lopate asks for advice on writing about your ex without sounding like an ass, Julianna Baggott worries that to be a great writer you must drink like a fish, and Roxane Gay asks whether it’s kosher to write about writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Taking advantage of all the tools available to today’s personal essayist—egregious puns, embarrassing anecdotes, and cocktail napkins—Professor Moore answers these questions, and more, demystifying the world of nonfiction once and for all. With a tip of the hat to history’s most infamous essay—Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals”—this book provides rollicking relief for writers in distress.introduction  1\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Phillip Lopate \u0026amp; “Of Old Girlfriends”  4\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from \u003c\/i\u003eCheryl Strayed \u0026amp; “Dash It All”  14\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from \u003c\/i\u003eJulianna Baggott \u0026amp; “The Napkin Is the Message”  22\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Judith Kitchen \u0026amp; “A Striped Essay”  44\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Barrie Jean Borich \u0026amp; “Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge”  56\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Lia Purpura \u0026amp; “Understanding Your Cauliflower”  70\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Sue William Silverman \u0026amp; “How Tasty\u003cbr\u003e Was My Little Frenchman”  78\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e B.J. Hollars \u0026amp; “Have You Learned \u003cbr\u003e Your Lesson, \u003ci\u003eAmigo\u003c\/i\u003e?”  86\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Diane Ackerman \u0026amp; “Of Bums”  100\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Dinah Lenney \u0026amp; “Pulling Teeth, or Twenty \u003cbr\u003e Reasons Why My Daughter's Turning Twenty Can't Come \u003cbr\u003e Soon Enough”  106\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Philip Graham \u0026amp; “How to Choose \u003cbr\u003e an Appropriate Essay Topic”  116\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Michael Martone \u0026amp; “Four Essential Tips for \u003cbr\u003e Telling the Truth in Memoir and Securing That Blockbuster \u003cbr\u003e Book Deal”  120\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Patrick Madden \u0026amp; “The Actual Message Mike the Tree Guy Left on My Answering Machine the Evening I Arrived Home to Find that the Tree He Was Cutting Down When I Left \u003cbr\u003e for Work That Morning Still Stood Tall in My Side Yard”  136\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Steve Almond \u0026amp; “An Essay on the Inherent \u003cbr\u003e Dangers of Memoir Writing”  140\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Ander Monson \u0026amp; “Nelson Algren’s Shorts”  144\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Brenda Miller \u0026amp; “Why I Trained My Dog to Post”  154 \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e David Shields \u0026amp; “Beep! Beep!”  168\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Roxane Gay \u0026amp; “Don’t Read This Essay”  174\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Brian Doyle \u0026amp; “Clogged and Stupid and Weary”  182\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Question from\u003c\/i\u003e Lee Gutkind  186\u003cbr\u003e acknowledgments  191\u003cbr\u003e about the author  193\u003cbr\u003e index  195\". ­. . a guide to writing essays that is both brilliantly instructive and wonderfully entertaining. ­. . . Highly recommended for writers and anyone who loves to laugh out loud while they read.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- \u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[Moore's] witty and disarming new book is framed as an advice column for accomplished writers. . . He is fun to read (don’t miss Mr Plimpton’s Revenge: A Google Maps Essay, in Which George Plimpton Delivers My Belated and Well-Deserved Comeuppance). And he sneaks in answers so we are left with a touch of wisdom as well as laughter.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- BBC.com\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eDear Mister Essay Writer Guy\u003c\/i\u003e is Moore at his best. It’s witty but also substantial, and the conversations between Moore and his interlocutors get to the heart of what makes the essay such a compelling form: its capacity to render, on the page, the human experience.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- The Rumpus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\". . . the book as a whole will leave you feeling educated, amused, and perhaps even inspired.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- The A.V. Club\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eDear Mister Essay Writer Guy\u003c\/i\u003e is an enjoyable read. . . Its witty, modest tone belies the artistry of the essays contained, which are exemplars of the short form.\" \u003cbr\u003e-- Shelf AwarenessDINTY W. MOORE is a highly regarded essayist and author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Mindful Writer, Crafting the Personal Essay\u003c\/i\u003e, and the memoir \u003ci\u003eBetween Panic and Desire\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the Grub Street Nonfiction Book Prize. He has been published in\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ethe \u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer Magazine, Gettysburg Review, Harper's\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eCrazyhorse\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. He also edits \u003ci\u003eBrevity: The Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction\u003c\/i\u003e and has served as coordinating editor for the annual anthology \u003ci\u003eBest Creative Nonfiction\u003c\/i\u003e. Moore currently teaches as director of Ohio University's BA, MA, and PhD in Creative Writing program.\u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Perhaps you are standing in the bookstore, scanning this introductory chapter, wondering just what sort of book you have in hand. You are a good-looking person whose minor flaws seem to only accentuate your considerable charm. You are intelligent. And immune to flattery. Moreover, you admire those who are plain-spoken, so let me be entirely forthright: This is the most important book ever published, except for a very old book that Moses started writing back in 800 BCE, one that a bunch of saints and raggedy disciples had to finish for him over the next thousand years. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Talk about missing a deadline! Boy, \u003ci\u003ehis\u003c\/i\u003e editor must have been mighty ticked off. In any case, that other book is all well and good, but it rapidly bogs down in questions such as how many goats must be slaughtered to atone for beheading your eldest son and who begat whom. Good stuff if you are a theologian, but stop to think a moment: are you a theologian?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Probably not.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The book you are holding here tackles more urgent questions, questions more relevant to the modern reader, questions such as “What is the essay? And why? And how ought we to feel about it, given that there is nothing on television this evening?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To that end, I have reached out to contemporary essayists such as Phillip Lopate, Cheryl Strayed, Diane Ackerman, Lee Gutkind, Steve Almond, Lia Purpura, Ander Monson, and a host of other fine writers, many of whom are close friends with Oprah Winfrey. I asked each of them to send me a question about the contemporary essay, in an attempt to once and for all settle the burning question: who reads this stuff?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My inspiration here is the sixteenth-century French nobleman and father of the essay form Michel de Montaigne. He broke literary ground by writing mainly of the self, bravely admitting to the reader, “I cannot keep my subject still. It goes along befuddled and staggering, with a natural drunkenness.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Drunkenness, befuddlement, the occasional staggering. What’s not to like? For those of you who have wondered, by the way, the name Montaigne is pronounced this way: Montaigne.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e So this is a Writing Guide of sorts, but since the true arc of the essay is the author’s thoughts moving on the page in a compelling fashion, this is also a Thinking Guide. If you have trouble thinking, this is the book for you!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Enjoy yourself. Consider reading passages aloud to your spouse or partner, or just slither up to a complete stranger at the corner coffee shop and let loose a chapter or two. You’ll find yourself making lifelong friends that way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And afterward, if you have questions, or are wondering where to send flowers, feel free to contact me (misteressayguy@gmail.com). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I do so look forward to hearing from you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sincerely,\u003cbr\u003e Dinty W. Moore\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eaka\u003c\/i\u003e Mister Essay Writer Guy","brand":"Ten Speed Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300666593509,"sku":"NP9781607748090","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781607748090.jpg?v=1742920942","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/dear-mister-essay-writer-guy-isbn-9781607748090","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}