The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781555977269)

A writer may have a story to tell, a sense of plot, and strong characters, but for all of these to come together some key questions must be answered. What form should the narrator take? An omniscient, invisible force, or one--or more--of the characters? But in what voice, and from what vantage point? How to decide? Avoiding prescriptive instructions or arbitrary rules, Christopher Castellani brilliantly examines the various ways writers have solved the crucial point-of-view problem. By unpacking the narrative strategies at play in the work of writers as different as E. M. Forster, Grace Paley, and Tayeb Salih, among many others, he illustrates how the author's careful manipulation of distance between narrator and character drives the story. An insightful work by an award-winning novelist and the artistic director of GrubStreet, The Art of Perspective is a fascinating discussion on a subject of perpetual interest to any writer.

Author: Christopher Castellani
ISBN-10: 155597726X
ISBN-13: 9781555977269
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Language: English
Published: 01/05/2016
Pages: 160
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 7.00h x 5.00w x 0.40d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2015
Shelf Awareness 01/19/2016