Sunday, 24 August 2014

Working On My Novel by Cory Arcangel (Non-Fiction, 8/10E, semi short 'n' sweet review)

The pencil illustrations suited the feel of the book

July 2014, Penguin, 144 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Summary from Cory's website (Penguin UK was being stubborn & wouldn't let me online)
Working On My Novel is a book which is based on a twitter feed that re-tweets the best posts featuring the phrase "working on my novel."
What does it feel like to try and create something new? How is it possible to find a space for the demands of writing a novel in a world of instant communication?

(All of the tweets collected in this book are used with the permission of the original authors.)

Nayu's thoughts
Being a Twitter user and a writer  had me rather interested on this particular book. Like a Twitter feed it's engaging how different people incorporate the phrase Working On My Novel. As I read it I wondered how Cory decided which tweets should be included, and which shouldn't. It would be rather fascinating to have books compiled of other hash tag, both writing and non-writing related ones. I for one would read them for interest, because it's not always comfy/convenient to read online as Tweets happen. I think this book will help people see how people can connect on Twitter over anything they enjoy (& I suppose anything they hate, although I can't imagine a writer hating writing!). 

The reason for the grade is that I'd expected more tweets in the book, not on per page. I wasn't particularly sold by the part where several of the same quote was printed one after the other - I'd rather have had a few more new entries. 


Suggested read
Another short and snappy read with a totally different agenda is Deadly Diaries by Steve Backshall (Children's, Non-Fiction, 10/10E)

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