Cliffhaven--Magnificent new resort near Big Sur. Surrounded by redwoods. Guarded by oceanside cliffs. Protected from prying eyes. By reservation only. Cliffhaven--Founded by a man with very special interests, catering to a very special clientele. Margaret and Henry Brown, vacationing New Yorkers innocently driving down the sea-washed coast of California, are just the right sort of people. Cliffhaven--It has a spectacular entrance, a three-star restaurant, lavish accommodations--and no exit!
Your future as a writer is in your hands. Whether you are a newcomer or an accomplished professional, a novelist, story writer, or a writer of nonfiction, you will find this book a wealth of immediately useful guidance not available anywhere else. As Sol Stein, renowned editor, author, and instructor, explains, "This is not a book of theory. It is a book of useable solutions-- how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place." You will find one of the great unspoken secrets of craftsmanship in Chapter 5, called "Markers: The Key to Swift Characterization." In Chapter 7, Stein reveals for he first time in print the wonderful system for creating instant conflict developed in the Playwrights Group of the Actors Studio, of which he was a founder. In "Secrets of Good Dialogue," the premier teacher of dialogue gives you the instantly useable techniques that not only make verbal exchanges exciting but that move the story forward immediately. You won't need to struggle with flashbacks or background material after you've read Chapter 14, which shows you how to bring background into the foreground. Writers of both fiction and nonfiction will relish the amphetamines for speeding up pace, and the many ways to liposuction flab, as well as how to tap originality and recognize what successful titles have in common. You'll discover literary values that enhance writing, providing depth and resonance. You'll bless the day you read Chapters 32 and 33 and discover why revising by starting at page one can be a serious mistake, and how to revise without growing cold on your manuscript. In the pages of this book, nonfiction writers will find a passport to the new revolution in journalism and a guide to using the techniques of fiction to enhance nonfiction. Fresh, useful, informative, and fun to read and reread, Stein on Writing is a book you will mark up, dog-ear, and cherish.
Each year thousands of fiction writers, from beginners to bestselling author, benefit from Sol Stein's sold-out workshops, featured appearances at writers' conferences, software for writers, on-line columns, and his popular first book for writers, Stein on Writing. Stein practices what he teaches: He is the author of nine novels, including the million-copy bestseller The Magician, as well as editor of such major writers as James Baldwin, Jack Higgins, Elia Kazan, Budd Schulberg, W. H. Auden, and Jacques Barzun, and the teacher and editor of several current bestselling authors. What sets Stein apart is his practical approach. He provides specific techniques that speed writers to successful publication. How to Grow a Novel is not just a book, but an invaluable workshop in print. It includes details and examples from Stein's editorial work with a #1 bestselling novelist as well as talented newcomers. Stein takes the reader backstage in the development of memorable characters and fascinating plots. The chapter on dialogue overflows with solutions for short-story writers, novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights. Stein shows what readers are looking for-- and what they avoid-- in the experience of reading fiction. The book offers guidelines-- and warnings-- of special value for nonfiction writers who want to move into fiction. Stein points to the little, often overlooked things that damage the writer's authority without the writer knowing it. And this book, like no other writing book, takes the reader behind the scenes of the publishing business as it affects writers of every level of experience, revealing the hard truths that are kept behind shut doors.
As one of the characters in this enthralling novel remarks, “The Russians play chess, Americans play checkers.” Into this arena, as if into a trap, walks George Thomassy, a brilliant defense attorney coerced into defending a gifted young man accused of murdering America’s most prescient Russian expert just as he is about to finish his major work on the U.S.S.R. Thomassy’s lover, Francine Widmer, an attractive, bright, politically aware woman, understands what Thomassy doesn’t: in this, His greatest trial, watched by the world’s press, his more formidable enemy is his own innocence of the world outside the courtroom, where there are crimes worse than murder. Thomassy, whose skill is winning, faces a decision no lawyer can walk away from. The Touch of Treason is a multilayered love story, a profound entertainment of acute suspense that we might expect from an American Graham Greene. Its strobelike insights into man, love, crime, and human relationships open up a century that has trapped both its characters and its readers in what surely must be both the best and worst of times. And its excitement, its pace, its surprises are the glorious trappings of a novel rich in characters and ideas.
Susan Whitcomb, a brilliant New York trial lawyer, has learned her craft from the best in the field—Professor Farlan Amory Adams, her Columbia law teacher, millionaire mentor, and eloquent would-be lover. She needs every shred of the rigorous mental training he has given her when, without warning, she is catapulted into the vicious world of international terrorism. Susan’s well-ordered Manhattan life comes to a sudden end with the news that her father, an army general based in Rome, has been assassinated. When she, too, becomes a target of the terrorists, a mysterious, driven young man called David Smith presents himself to her in Rome and tells her he has been assigned to protect her from the dangers that will follow her back to America. And this is only the beginning…. As the story develops, Susan becomes a pawn in a deadly game of escalating complexity, brutality, and suspense in which life, love, and loyalty all hang in the balance. The millions of readers who were riveted by Sol Stein’s previous best-sellers, The Magician and The Touch of Treason, will recognize the hand of a master storyteller in this psychologically dense and driving thriller. Not for nothing did the New York Times write of his work: “If you read a Sol Stein novel while walking, you will walk into a wall.”
Aimed at writers of all standards, this book presents practical guidance on how to create interesting pieces of writing. Sol Stein''s book includes advice on how to use techniques of fiction to enhance works of non-fiction.
Over 2 million copies sold in print, and now available in digital format for the first time At their big prom, Ed Japhet scares the wits out of the attendees with his fantastic and dangerous feats of magic. Then when the young man and his girlfriend leave, they see four figures sitting inside his father's car, one with a chain around his fist. That's only the beginning of this story of a screwed-up justice system and a high-school student who decides to use his magic tricks to stop a tough gang of extortionists from bothering him and his girl. The New York Times says, "I cannot recall a gripping novel of this type with greater pleasure." The Library Journal declares, "A shark-like bite that won't be easily forgotten. Fast moving, incisive, angry, fine, and dramatic " First published in 1971, this literary thriller shows off the masterful storytelling skills of its legendary author, Sol Stein.
Whether you are a beginner or an accomplished professional, whether your field is fiction, nonfiction or journalism, Sol Stein's Solutions for Writers is an indispensable guide to enhancing your work. In Stein's own words, 'This is not a book of theory': just practical, immediately useful solutions to help with every type of writing problem. From shaping an opening sentence that hooks the reader to the secret of successful revision, deft character development to pumping up pacing, Solutions for Writers contains a wealth of wisdom from one of publishing's most storied editors. Packed with ideas, examples of techniques in practice, and advice that shines a new light on craft, Sol Stein's writing guide is a timeless classic - a book for writers to mark up, dog-ear, and cherish.
Peter Carmody is a man most people would envy. He has a successful career, an attractive wife, two children he loves and who love him. Yet Peter Carmody has been playing at a marriage that has run down over the years through emotional attrition and boredom. Sometimes, when the martinis come fast enough and the determined, frenetic gaiety of friends momentarily fills up the emptiness, the charade is almost convincing. But in the small, honest hours of the night, Peter recognizes his arrangement for what it is--the very opposite of living. In an explosive self confrontation, Peter gambles all he has against what he hopes to have in a life with Elizabeth, the woman he loves. Resented by his friends who lack the courage--perhaps the desperation--to break out of their own loveless arrangements, and humiliated by the American way of divorce that strips him of his children, property, and self respect, Peter touches despair before realizing that making an honest, joyful connection with Elizabeth is an affirmation of life worth any cost. The Husband is a very real and dramatic story of a man struggling to find the truth of his life. The Husband is someone you know.
Described by the Chicago Tribune as a "latter-day version of Dickens' Bleak House," Bankruptcy: A Feast for Lawyers is a shattering indictment of bankruptcy law by a CEO who lived through the experience of Chapter 11. Author Sol Stein exposes a system that is supposed to provide an opportunity for troubled companies to reorganize, but kills more than 70% of the businesses that take refuge in it while enriching legions of lawyers. In the nightmare world of Chapter 11, the gainers are seldom the creditors or the debtor company, but rather the bankruptcy bar, impeached in this book by their own conduct and the condemnation of their ethical brethren. Besides his own experience, the author draws examples from diverse industries -- trucking, food, real estate, oil, and publishing.
It's good to be ambitious. Only remember, the nearer you get to the front of the line, the more people with knives can see your back." That's Louie Riller giving advice to his son, Ben, who happens to be the most successful producer on Broadway. Louie Riller himself happens to be long dead. "Joan of Arc heard voices," Ben Riller's secretary tells him. "Why shouldn't you?" But Ben isn't just hearing voices; he's having a running argument with the late Louie about life, love, and Ben's newest production, The Best Revenge, a play that has already gobbled up too much of other people's money and is in danger of closing before it opens. When, on Louie's advice, Ben visits his father's master shylock, Aldo Manucci, we are suddenly involved with two generations of wonderful underworld characters. One of them pulls the trapdoor under Ben's feet, forcing him to choose between his moral and financial ruin. In turn hilarious, poignant, and profound, The Best Revenge takes us on a vastly entertaining excursion behind the scenes of the Great White Way, where the drama is often more suspenseful than anything that happens onstage and where the best revenge is, of course, success. In The Best Revenge, the author of the million-copy seller The Magician, out-triumphs all his previous work. Saul Bellow has said of The Best Revenge, “It reads itself.” And The New York Times affirms, “If you bury yourself in a Sol Stein novel while walking, you’ll walk into a wall.”
Originally published in 1974, this landmark novel is available in ebook format for the first time. Shirley Hartman, at twenty-eight, was the star of Madison Avenue, a woman who'd made it to the top in the male-dominated advertising game. Beauty, brains, fame, love...yet there she was, standing on a lonely rooftop, contemplating suicide. Had Shirley pushed too hard and reached too far-or can this extraordinary woman break out to some living room beyond career success and the usual arrangements with a man? "Shirley Hartman is as much a feminist as Portia, Becky Sharp or Scarlett O'Hara. In her, Stein has created a heroine yearning for that living space that men and women need after social and financial triumph. The kind of novel one keeps on ready." -New Republic "A roller coaster reader ride. Shirley Hartman is a ball of fire you are not likely to forget." -John Barkham Reviews
Roger Maxwell was a successful banker. He was the new owner of a beautiful old house in the country. He was the loving husband of a captivating and sensual woman. He was the proud father of four “great kids.” Then, on one long holiday weekend at his isolated home, Roger Maxwell began to learn the truth about his children, his wife, and himself—as his whole world of illusion came apart in bloody pieces…
Stein attains a new level of achievement that demonstrates his ability to write as well as, and perhaps better than, most of the novelists he publishes... It's the sort of book you hate to stop reading." --"John Barkham Reviews" "If you bury yourself in a Sol Stein book while walking, you will walk into a wall." --"The New York Times" "Brilliantly conceived, highly recommended." --United Press International
In ths book, Sol Stein, one of the greatest editors of our time, offers help on the most important recurrent problems novelists encounter when learning their craft. With numerous examples from the work of both established bestselling authors and talented newcomers, combined with detailed analysis, he reveals the secrets that can lift a piece of creative writing and give it that spell-binding quality that holds the reader enthralled. The need to give the reader a unique experience, the necessity for conflict between characters, the importance of instant attraction, what makes a character compelling and a plot gripping; why dialogue should never mimic spoken conversation and how misplaced or unnecessary words can slow down the narrative - all this and more is conveyed in this entertaining yet practical book that provides all the benefits of an individual tutorial.
James Baldwin was beginning to be recognized as the most brilliant black writer of his generation when his first book of essays, Notes of a Native Son, established his reputation in 1955. No one was more pleased by the book’s reception than Baldwin’s high school friend Sol Stein. A rising New York editor, novelist, and playwright, Stein had suggested that Baldwin do the book and coaxed his old friend through the long and sometimes agonizing process of putting the volume together and seeing it into print. Now, in this fascinating new book, Sol Stein documents the story of his intense creative partnership with Baldwin through newly uncovered letters, photos, inscriptions, and an illuminating memoir of the friendship that resulted in one of the classics of American literature. Included in this book are the two works they created together–the story “Dark Runner” and the play Equal in Paris, both published here for the first time. Though a world of difference separated them–Baldwin was black and gay, living in self-imposed exile in Europe; Stein was Jewish and married, with a growing family to support–the two men shared the same fundamental passion. Nothing mattered more to either of them than telling and writing the truth, which was not always welcome. As Stein wrote Baldwin in a long, heartfelt letter, “You are the only friend with whom I feel comfortable about all three: heart, head, and writing.” In this extraordinary book, Stein unfolds how that shared passion played out in the months surrounding the creation and publication of Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, in which Baldwin’s main themes are illuminated. A literary event published to honor the eightieth anniversary of James Baldwin’s birth, Native Sons is a celebration of one of the most fruitful and influential friendships in American letters.
Professional secrets from a renowned editor, prize-winning author, and award-winning instructor make this book the #1 practical choice for fiction and nonfiction writers of all levels of experience.
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