The Way of the Writer contains a series of 42 essays, mostly 2-4 pages in length, with a couple of longer pieces. Elements of autobiography are present as Johnson describes aspects of his childhood in Chicago, his undergraduate education at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and his work as a newspaper reporter on the Southern Illinoisan. He provides anecdotes about the mentoring he received from John Gardner and his work as a professor at the University of Washington. Johnson is a multi-talented artist who has worked as a cartoonist, screenwriter, newspaper reporter, novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His doctoral degree was in philosophy, and philosophical musing underlies many of the essays.

Despite the critical acclaim Johnson has enjoyed, this book will appeal to a limited audience. He is a patient, painstakingly precise writer who is willing to take six years to write a novel. In the process of crafting a 250-page book, he discarded 3000 pages. He reads dictionaries, cover-to-cover, in search of words he does not know. His quest for the exquisite word is mindful of monastic devotion.

There is a pronounced and tiresome self-congratulatory emphasis in many of the essays. Johnson refers to fine literary writing as well-wrought art, akin to love.

For the writer … what might have been selfish or ego-driven at the onset of his or her career gives way—as is always the case with love—to the simple desire to humbly serve and possibly enrich, if we are lucky, literary culture in our time.

Johnson writes about popular fiction as if he is open-minded, but he sprinkles his essays with an arrogant, disdainful, condescending attitude. In his view, popular fiction is junk fiction—or industrial fiction—that requires a junk mind. It is filled with Styrofoam people or sociological problems masquerading as characters. In his view, the garden-variety novel is not much of an intellectual or artistic challenge.

Much like Johnson reads entire dictionaries in search of a word he does not yet know, I read books on writing, hoping to find some ideas or techniques that will be beneficial. I found little of practical use in The Way of the Writer. The book is not unpleasant to read if you take it an essay at a time. Reading this book will be time well-spent for readers who love to read and desire to produce literary writing. For those with a junk mind, there is little of practical value. ( )

Charles Johnson is a highly regarded novelist, cartoonist, essayist, screenwriter, philosopher, and teacher. He is also a scholar of Buddhism. But his “way” here might best be described as sheer hard work and productivity. He’s the kind of writer who would write six novels in draft over a two-year period just to practice the techniques he thought he would need, and then turn the seventh one into his first published novel. He appears to have had that kind of work ethic throughout his life. And it paid off for him. It’s also something he has attempted to inculcate in his students over 33 years teaching Creative Writing at university.

The book does not offer a programme or set of exercises or step-by-step guidance (he has written other books for that). It is, rather, a set of reflections on various aspects of the writing life prompted by a year-long interview conducted with him by the poet E. Ethelbert Miller. Certainly there are pointed pieces of advice. But much more of the pleasure of the book comes in the oblique insights we get into Johnson’s craft. How he works through the night, each night. How much of his fiction writing he culls in the course in re-writing (he estimates a 20:1 ratio). How his early experience as a journalist shaped his practical approach to writing. And, most especially, on the importance of mentorship. Johnson’s mentor was John Gardner, who seems to have made promoting Johnson a personal project. Successfully.

Without being a brilliant essayist (Johnson humbly acknowledges this), these reflections remain highly readable and informative. Anyone interested in the late 20th century world of publishing would find something of interest here. And for the aspiring writer there is also much to emulate and consider.

Gently recommended. ( )

An autobiography long on the author's accomplishments and short on practical applications

The Way of the Writer, Reflections on the Art and Craft of Storytelling is long on the accomplishments of Charles Johnson, his philosophy in regards to writing and the benefits of academia. Somewhere among this rather high-minded autobiography (because that's basically what it is) are some insights about actual writing (that would be literary fiction with a capital L since Johnson considers anything else "pork" or industrial writing and not worth the effort).

Much of his philosophy is similar to John Gardner's who was his teacher and mentor. Indeed, one might be better off reading Gardner's On Moral Fiction as well as The Art of Fiction for more specifics on these two areas unless you're want to know more about Johnson's career highlights beginning in grade school.

I did find it interesting that he places more emphasis on plot than character development which could be considered a contradiction since one definition of literary fiction is that it's character driven.

I'm now inclined to read at least one of his novels to see if it is actually as good as he thinks it is. ( )