LIVE! #45
4 December 2022
Agenda
- Why We're Here
- Literary Forensics
- - What do I bring?
- - What do I feel?
- - What do I notice?
- - What do I study?
- Next Month's Reading & Study
Why We're Here
We Writers want to improve our craft
by Reading like a Writer
through Literary Forensics training
we learn from each other
Roundtable Rules
Always refer back to the book
We practice active listening & serendipity
Every feeling and observation is valid...
but not every conclusion
Always refer back to the book
Meet today's author: Joshua Cohen
- Grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and attended the Manhattan School of Music studying composition
- Does not have an MFA, and has expressed disdain for the degree
- Lived in various cities in Eastern Europe between 2001 and 2006, working as a journalist
- Reads both German and Hebrew and has translated works in both languages into English
- In 2017, Granta Magazine named him to its decennial list of the Best Young American Writers
- Currently lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn
What do I feel?
What in the book elicited that feeling?
Every feeling and observation is valid...
but every conclusion should be questioned
We practice serendipity
- nothing is too crazy
Always refer back to the book
What do I notice?
- • Language and Grammar
- • Context
- • Point of view
- • Character & character development
- • Pacing
- • Horizontal structure
- • Layering of themes
- • Overall effect
Stats & Background
- Marketing: Jewish Literature & Fiction, Biographical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Humorous Fiction & Satire
- Genre: Longform Historical Archplot
- Print Pages: 248; Word count: 65,744
- Reading Grade: 9-10th; Avg. wds/sent.: 14.59
- Lexical Density: 47.47; Flesch Reading Ease: 63.70
- POV: Ruben Blum; Person: 1st; Tense: Past
- Publish date: June 22, 2021
- Publisher: New York Review of Books
- Audio book narr.: Joshua Cohen, David Duchovny, Ethan Herschenfeld (8 hours 31 minutes)
- Recognition: 2022 Pulitzer Prize; 2021 National Jewish Book Award; Best books of 2021: NYT, Kirkus, WSJ
- Writing his 6th Novel
- Inspired by Netanyahu's visit to Yale, where Harold Bloom was tapped to chaperone Ben-Zion, his wife, and three sons
- Dedicated to Harold Bloom, whom Cohen knew and visited
- “Eliminate the Diaspora or the Diaspora will eliminate you.” —Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Tisha B’Av, 1938
Writers Who Read: Up Next
January 8: The School for Good Mothers - Jessamine Chan
(USA, 2022)
Required reading: TBD
Writers Who Read: Coming Up
February 5: Cold Enough for Snow – Jessica Au (USA, 2022)
March 5: Winter Work – Dan Fesperman (USA, 2022)
April 2: The Candy House – Jennifer Egan (USA, 2022)
May 7: Sea of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel (USA, 2022)
June 4: The Passenger – Cormac McCarthy (USA, 2022)