The Hidden Machinery: Essays on Writing | 
pickIf you are interested in reading, or writing, or both, this book is a treasure. Livesey is smart, generous, and a charming companion. Her essays on Flaubert, Austen and James are particularly strong, and the final piece on research is one I‘ll return to many times, I know. Highly recommended.
“We must work to be influenced, not merely wait.” This is a thoughtful and stimulating collection of essays about writing - stunningly good. Recommended for writers and readers alike.
Trying to get through a stayed-up-too-late-reading hangover caused by this gem.🔥🔥🔥
"In my 20s I was reading passionately and devotedly, and trying to write fiction, but I wasn‘t really connecting the two activities. . . . I began to think more about how how we, as writers, can learn more about our craft from reading and how we can learn to build a bridge between our reading and our own efforts when we sit down.” --Margot Livesey, speaking with The Boston Globe about THE HIDDEN MACHINERY
(Portrait by David Wilson)
???Happy pub week to THE HIDDEN MACHINERY: ESSAYS ON WRITING by bestselling author and beloved teacher Margot Livesey!
"Margot Livesey's essays are not only helpful and informative (about writing and great writers—Austen! Woolf! Flaubert!) but every witty, elegant sentence is a pure pleasure to read.” —Francine Prose
