{"product_id":"first-we-read-then-we-write-emerson-on-the-creative-process-paperback","title":"First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert D. Richardson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eJohn Banville\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriting was the central passion of Emerson's life. While his thoughts on the craft are well developed in \"The Poet,\" \"The American Scholar,\" \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e, \"Goethe,\" and \"Persian Poetry,\" less well known are the many pages in his private journals devoted to the relationship between writing and reading. Here, for the first time, is the Concord Sage's energetic, exuberant, and unconventional advice on the idea of writing, focused and distilled by the preeminent Emerson biographer at work today. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEmerson advised that \"the way to write is to throw your body at the mark when your arrows are spent.\" \u003ci\u003eFirst We Read, Then We Write\u003c\/i\u003e contains numerous such surprises--from \"every word we speak is million-faced\" to \"talent alone cannot make a writer\"--but it is no mere collection of aphorisms and exhortations. Instead, in Robert Richardson's hands, the biographical and historical context in which Emerson worked becomes clear. Emerson's advice grew from his personal experience; in practically every moment of his adult life he was either preparing to write, trying to write, or writing. Richardson shows us an Emerson who is no granite bust but instead is a fully fleshed, creative person disarmingly willing to confront his own failures. Emerson urges his readers to try anything--strategies, tricks, makeshifts--speaking not only of the nuts and bolts of writing but also of the grain and sinew of his determination. Whether a writer by trade or a novice, every reader will find something to treasure in this volume. Fearlessly wrestling with \"the birthing stage of art,\" Emerson's counsel on being a reader and writer will be read and reread for years to come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eRobert D. Richardson is the author of \u003ci\u003eWilliam James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the 2007 Bancroft Prize, \u003ci\u003eEmerson: The Mind on Fire\u003c\/i\u003e, which won both the Francis Parkman Prize and the Melcher Book Award and was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and \u003ci\u003eHenry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind\u003c\/i\u003e, which also won the Melcher Book Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 116\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 8 x 5.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 01, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42701019512895,"sku":"9781609383473","price":15.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/e31691eaf8d5032a6dde4823d0dbb168.webp?v=1765019030","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/first-we-read-then-we-write-emerson-on-the-creative-process-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}