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Jan 11, 2014lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
There has been a quiet and gradual collapse of literary culture, which leaves very few prominent critics in our society (Harold Bloom stands out). Gone are the days when Edmund Wilson and Lionel Trilling could set taste and be public intellectuals. New Yorker book critic James Wood is probably one of the last of this breed. "How Fiction Works" operates as an entertaining, if high-brow, crash course in the mechanics of fiction, from characterization to dialogue to prose style. It can get a bit technical, but it's certainly valuable and informative for those with a lit background.