Andrew

I wish the essays had focused more on technique, and at times they didn't even really feel to be about writing at all; nevertheless, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It just wasn't quite what I wanted (so the problem was me, not it).

But one useful thing I did learn is that ideas are like cats:

You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you. If you try to approach a cat and pick it up, hell, it won't let you do it. You've got to say, “Well, to hell with you.” And the cat says, “Wait a minute. He's not behaving the way most humans do.” Then the cat follows you out of curiosity: “Well, what's wrong with you that you don't love me?”

are

This book has long been a favorite of mine. I've read it twice in print, listened to it once as an audiobook, and just finished it again, this time on my Kindle. This is a book that I've continued to come back to because the world is super interesting and the characters are wonderful. Has some of the content become a bit dated? Definitely. But the storytelling brilliance contained between the front and back covers of this book is mesmerizing.