John Gardner's essential collection encompassing the fundamentals of fiction writing In this posthumously published collection of his essays and reviews, acclaimed novelist John Gardner discusses the craft of fiction writing, taking to task some of his best-known contemporaries in the process. Gardner criticizes some for writing disingenuous fiction, and commends others who produce literature that acts as a life-affirming force. He offers insights into and exacting critiques on such writers as Vladimir Nabokov, John Updike, Saul Bellow, and John Cheever, while addressing his personal influences and delivering broad-ranging observations on literary culture. Provocative and poignant, On Writers and Writing is a must-read for both aspiring writers and careful readers of American literature. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of John Gardner, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Gardner family and the University of Rochester.;Cover Page; Title Page; Table of Contents; "Bartleby": Art and Social Commitment; An Invective Against Mere Fiction; More Smog from the Dark Satanic Mills; Witchcraft in Bullet Park, by John Cheever; Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll; The Breast, by Philip Roth; The Way We Write Now; Saint Walt; The Adventurer, by Paul Zweig; Beyond the Bedroom Wall, by Larry Woiwode; Amber (Get) Waves (Your) of (Plastic) Grain (Uncle Sam); JR, by William Gaddis; The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, by John Steinbeck; Lancelot, by Walker Percy; Falconer, by John Cheever.