The Writer Who Stayed

Bill Zinsser has written about every topic on earth, focusing on the things he knows and loves best - how to write, travel, baseball and music. Then, surprisingly, in his 80's, he began to write a blog about everything on earth. Like everything else he has ever written, the blog provided interesting, concise, funny, challenging and beautifully written commentary about myriad components of our culture. Provided in the column entitled "Zinsser on Friday" of the American Scholar online magazine (the missal of Phi Beta Kappa), these blog posts won Zinsser the National Magazine Award in the category of Digital Commentary for 2012, beating Rolling Stone, among others. This is a little jewel of a book and, as is the case with posts of this kind, can be savored over time, many times. Buy the book in hardback or Kindle format (mine is a Kindle copy) and bring it out whenever you want to remind yourself that there is lovely and amazing writing, that short can be all you need to perfectly capture an idea, and that we can reinvent ourselves at any age.

As a woman who loves writing and reading almost equally, this collection is eloquent, enlightening and entertaining. (I'm sure Mr. Zinsser would disapprove of all those adjectives marching along in one sentence, but so be it.) Each piece is short because he is meeting the constraints of a weekly presentation. And nothing is lost by his brevity. In fact you can't help but marvel at how much you're given in such a small space. Thanks to Zinsser I have been compelled to reevaluate my (uninformed) opinion of journalism. In fact, it would go further and strongly recommend his classic book On Writing Well. It is a guide to writing nonfiction, but more accurately it is, as the title says, a guide to writing well.

Another good book by the late Zinsser. I will sorely miss any new works from him, may he rest in peace.By no means this is his usual works since like he said,"I still believe in the carefully written personal essay."These are but a collection of short stories and not his usual work of well crafted pieces of literacy art, but you you are familiar with his other works and style, you will notice his usual prose and wit in them.

It is so nice to read something by a talented writer. He paints a picture, stretches your mind in words and word usage and provides substance thoughtrout the book.Newspapers today employ some of the most bland and limited writers available. I rarely am able to finish an article in The Washington Post (I subscribe) with the exception of George Will's articles. The same is true of other newspapers and magazines that I read. The articles and editorials are simple, slanted, lack thoughtful analysis and vision and seldom cause my mind to stretch or even to pick up a dictionary.I'm so glad I got to read this book.WJRobinson

I liked this book. I really did. The author is vivacious (more amazing when I realized he was in his late eighties), and it is very apparent that he has mastered the craft of writing. That said, I found some of the anecdotes less than interesting, and the references were often dated (what was I expecting from an octogenarian?).This book is worth a read for the writing style alone, but I couldn't give it more than 3.5 stars simply because there are too many other excellent books out there (and only a limited amount of time to read). Still, I am looking forward to reading another of this author's books: On Writing Well, which I've heard is quite good.

After hectic days and too brief evenings I often commented I need a little Zinsser. Whether I read one or several columns before I turned off my Kindle and hopefully my often limitless unfocused tangents time with Zinsser was always welcomed.One need choose carefully if recommending this to someone. While it appears an easy read, Zinsser is an unmatched craftsman not appreciated by all. The right recipient will be happy you invested the time.

This book represents the Essay form at its finest. The sentences flow and bring the subjects to life. Images form much as they must have in Mr.Zinnser’s mind.Many smiles accompanied my read.Thanks for publishing this anthology.

I had very high expectations for this book, having enjoyed and learned a great deal from the author's previous works. I wasn't disappointed. I read the entire book in one relaxed sitting while waiting for the rest of my family to wake up in our rented vacation apartment in Madrid. Besides receiving additional pointers about writing well in English, l laughed, cried, and marveled at the human condition as captured by one exceptionally astute, articulate, and humane New Yorker who is accepting old age with admirable grace.