Böcker av Barnaby Conrad

Writers Like Us is a poignant literary memoir by Barnaby Conrad, who had the good fortune to be mentored by Sinclair Lewis, the first American author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the spring of 1947, the 25 year-old Conrad was living in Santa Barbara, California, when he met Lewis. Conrad was struggling with his first novel, while Lewis, then 62, was in the twilight of his career. While they both had studied at Yale and had the same literary agent, they could not have been more different. A charming San Francisco-native, Conrad had been a dashing diplomat in Spain during World War II, an amateur bullfighter, a cocktail pianist, and a gifted portrait artist. Lewis was an awkward but strident genius from the Midwest, a sharp-tongued literary giant whose face had been ravaged by skin cancer. He had been married and divorced twice and was deeply lonely. Conrad was in awe of Lewis's global stature and charmed by his crusty humor and humanity. This Odd Couple instantly developed a camraderie. For four summer months, Conrad worked as Lewis's personal secretary, chauffeur, and chess partner at Thorvale, a 700-acre estate near Williamstown, Massachusetts. In turn, Lewis mentored the young man's first novel-in-progress. Although Sinclair Lewis has fallen out of fashion, many agree that no one wrote more clearly about America than he did. Barnaby Conrad's Writers LIke Us, is a fascinating literary memoir about the intertwined lives of authors and the elusive nature of literary success.

Readers will delight at the best scenes ever written. They will find old favourites and savour scenes new to them. With each scene, Barnaby Conrad provides insights as to what the author wishes to accomplish with this passage and the literary devices he or she employs. Any avid reader will enjoy this book, but countless fledgling and established writers will benefit enormously by sampling and studying these gems from the masters of the written word.

Making the provocative purposeful, this analysis spotlights the most exciting--or potentially embarrassing--story element: the obligatory sex scene. This sensibly suggestive guide demonstrates how to advance plots and reveal truths about characters through their romantic tableaus. Each scene is accompanied by insight into its authors' intentions, how they accomplished them, and their thoughts on romance, love, and sex. The featured passages include men such as William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck and women from Margaret Mitchell to Toni Morrison and Danielle Steel.