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A Manner of Being: Writers on Their Mentors

edited by Annie Liontas and Jeff Parker

University of Massachusetts Press, 2015
Cloth: 978-1-62534-181-5 | eISBN: 978-1-61376-436-7 | Paper: 978-1-62534-182-2
Library of Congress Classification PN466.M365 2015
Dewey Decimal Classification 809

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

What do the punk singer Henry Rollins, the Guatemalan writer Rodrigo Rey Rosa, the American authors Tobias Wolff, Tayari Jones, and George Saunders, the Canadian writer Sheila Heti, and the Russian poet Polina Barskova have in common? At some point they all studied the art of writing deeply with someone.

The nearly seventy short essays in A Manner of Being, by some of the best contemporary writers from around the world, pay homage to mentors—the writers, teachers, nannies, and sages—who enlighten, push, encourage, and sometimes hurt, fail, and limit their protégés. There are mentors encountered in the schoolhouse and on farms, in NYC and in MFA programs; mentors who show up exactly when needed, offering comfort, a steadying hand, a commiseration, a dose of tough love. This collection is rich with anecdotes from the heartfelt to the salacious, gems of writing advice, and guidance for how to live the writing life in a world that all too often doesn't care whether you write or not.

Each contribution is intimate and distinct—yet a common theme is that mentors model a manner of being.

Selections include:

Arthur Flowers on John O'Killens
James Franco on Harmony Korine
Mary Gaitskill on an Ann Arbor bookstore owner
Noy Holland and Sam Lipsyte on Gordon Lish
Tayari Jones on Ron Carlson
Henry Rollins on Hubert Selby Jr.
Rodrigo Rey Rosa on Paul Bowles
George Saunders on Douglas Unger and Tobias Wolff
Christine Schutt on Elizabeth Hardwick
Tobias Wolff on John L'Heureux
. . . and many more

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Annie Liontas received an MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University. She is author of the novel Let Me Explain You. Jeff Parker is assistant professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His most recent books include Where Bears Roam the Streets and Erratic Fire, Erratic Passion.

REVIEWS

"What the writers share of their mentors, and what their mentors shared with them, makes for a fascinating work on writing and the student-teacher relationship."—Publishers Weekly

"The book does offer arresting memories and useful advice on navigating the writing life."—Kirkus

"A collection of snapshots from the past few decades documenting how a variety of writers have found or been given guidance from other writers, both in and out of writing programs. Many different approaches are represented here, from line editors to more mystic sages, from teachers turned life coaches to teachers who did most of their work in the classroom or campus office. In gathering these tributes to mentors, this volume gives us some idea not so much of what students look for in a teacher, but of what they remember, and why it's important to them."—Peter Turchi, author of A Muse and A Maze: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic

"Liontas (Let Me Explain You) and Parker (English, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Where Bears Roam the Streets) bring together a series of stories and vignettes by writers for writers on the power of mentorship and the myriad ways in which literary and nonliterary guides support, influence, encourage, and serve to provide much-needed reality checks. The included pieces are at times warm, insightful, and amusing, while always staying true to the spirit of the unique relationship between mentor and mentee. Divided into eight sections, the stories fall into categories dedicated to literary "lineages," schoolhouse mentors, outliers, tough love, writers without mentors, and those in need of intervention; each contribution can be read as a stand-alone account, or taken as part of the greater whole. VERDICT These insider stories, recounting, the experiences of beginning writers, poets, and MFA students alike, will resonate with those following a similar path."—Library Journal

"A Manner of Being is revealing, often touching, frequently joyful, adding up to evidence of an idea that worked."—National Post, Toronto

"Funny, tender, illuminating, and with a vast reach (e.g., 'Pam Houston on Martha Washington,' 'James Franco on School'), this collection is splendid in every way."—Booklist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lineage ITobias Wolff on John L'Heureux Douglas Unger on Raymond Carver, John Irving, and Richard Stern George Saunders on Douglas Unger and Tobias Wolff Adam Levin on George Saunders SchoolhouseAimee Bender on Judith Grossman and Geoffrey Wolff Mary Caponegro on John Hawkes James Franco on School Lee Montgomery on Five Mentors Carmen Maria Machado on Kevin Brockmeier andMichelle Huneven Leonid Kostyukov on Anatoly Kim Scott Laughlin on Alberto de Lacerda Davy Rothbart on Charles Baxter Jedediah Berry on William Weaver C. Dale Young on Donald Justice Maya Lang on Ron DeMaio Mecca Jamilah Sullivan on Amy Peter Meinke on Robert "Bobo" Rudd and Mrs. Maureen Vanderbilt Stefan Kiesbye on Irving Feldman Michael Martone on John Barth OutliersRichard Poplak on Fabian Cancellara's Legs Diane Cook on Ira Glass Mary Gaitskill on the Old Guy Kevin Canty on Harry Crews Rodrigo Rey Rosa on Paul Bowles Ken Babstock on Three Builders Aleksandr Skidan on Boris Ostanin Tony D'Souza on the Exquisite Lady Byron Case on L. Henry Rollins on Hubert Selby, Jr. Sheila Heti on Susan Roxborough Mikhail Iossel on Gilbert Sorrentino Edie Meidav on Peter Matthiessen Megan Mayhew Bergman on Tammy White Polina Barskova on the Teacher Rosemary Sullivan on Leonora Carrington and P. K. Page Lineage IIPadgett Powell on Donald Barthelme Mike Spry on Padgett Powell Sam Lipsyte on Gordon Lish Noy Holland on Gordon Lish Christine Schutt on Elizabeth Hardwick Tough LoveDeb Olin Unferth on John Probes Erica Dawson on Mary Jo Salter Nick Flynn on Philip Levine Roy Kesey on Robert Day Sabina Murray on Valerie Martin Rui Zink on Alberto Pimenta Anya Groner on Beth Ann Fennelly Dawn Raffel on Her Grandmother Pam Houston on Martha Washington No Mentor HerePaisley Rekdal on No One Christine Hume on Some Teachers Tibor Fischer on a Mentor Missed Tony Hoagland on Rejecting Your Mentors InterventionsStephen Elliott on Surrounding Yourself with the PeopleYou Most Wish to Become Josip Novakovich on Terrence Malick Maaza Mengiste on Breyten Breytenbach Alissa Nutting on Kate Bernheimer Jon Paul Fiorentino on Robert Kroetsch Nathan Deuel on William T. Vollmann Peter Trachtenberg on James McCourt George Singleton on Fred Chappell Jay Parini on Gore Vidal Frank X. Gaspar on Donald Drury Lineage IIITayari Jones on Ron Carlson Ron Carlson on David Kranes Arthur Flowers on John O. KillensAnnie Liontas on Arthur Flowers

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