Customer Reviews
Inspiration not education - By: sam, 12 Mar 2004 
If you need a book about grammar or literary agents then this isn't it. It is a book purely about releasing creative energy through the medium of writing.
Personally, I found the book exciting to read. I was burning up with enthusiasm to get at the word processor & I actually followed the concrete advice he gives. All I can say is that it worked for me: I had not written before & I have now.
Surely the most important thing for a writer is to write & be passionate about writing? If there is a better way to say what you want to say then be a filmaker or a painter or a critic.
Title is misleading - By: zenadox, 12 Feb 2004 
I've had this book for just over a year & have read it twicein that time. Both times I came away feeling unsatisfiedin that it didn't give me the information I needed to develop my own writing technique.
It's not really a book about the mechanics of writing or story composition - it is a collection of essays that Ray Bradbury wrote for various publicationsin years gone by & "Zenin the Art of Writing" is simply the title of one of these essays. During my first read read through this book I was disappointed to find that it seemed to be just a billboard for the short stories he has written. There's a lot of "This happened & I thought of that & became inspired to write this". And because I had not heard of many of these stories, I could not even link his experience to the story & have that moment of "Aah, so that's what was behind it".
Some of the content is usefulin that you think that he offers techniques that you can perhaps play with. But I didn't expect that this book would be so autobiographical which is why I'm giving it 3 stars. However, the book is well-written & it may have got a higher rating from me if I had read it with different expectations.
I will keep this book to read again. You do get a sense that there is something inspiring lurking under the surface & I hope that one day I will pick the book up & be ready to receive the inspiration that is there.
This book will teach you almost nothing about writing! - By: , 05 Jan 2004 Although this book is an interesting read, it doesn't quite do what it says on the cover. There are approximately three helpful tips contained within it, & one of these will only be useful if you plan to write extraordinary fantastical stories without having any idea of what you're going to write before you start!
The book is really just a collection of short & incomplete autobiographies that Ray Bradbury has written over the years. They don't include much more than some accounts of the inspiration behind his stories. The book ends with some of Bradbury's poetry, which was a little too surreal for my taste & very heavy going.
If you want to find out about Bradbury's life & how he concocts weird stories then this is the book for you, but don't be fooled - this book isn't very helpfulin terms of improving your writing!
Inspiring - By: Jeremy Craddock, 25 Oct 2002 Perhaps the most inspiring lesson I drew from this wonderful book is containedin the essay Run Fast, Stand Still,in which Bradbury urges the writer to write very quickly, pushing aside the critical voice inside your head that can freeze the hand as it hovers over the page, & put down the first thing that occurs to you. In this way you are able to get your 1,000 words a day donein ragtime & then go back & do the all-important revision.
Bradbury's writing style is so intoxicating - just like his short stories & novels - that you'll fly through this book.
His enthusiasm for writing - for WORK - is infectious, & this book has done much to reignite my desire to write.
Top notch guide - By: , 26 Jan 2001 I bought this book over four years ago & have read it once a year ever since. Bradbury discusses the notion of inspiration, with helpful tips on how to keep & feed your muse. Drawing upon & sharing from his own personal experience, this is a book that will make you feel alive- regardless of whether you are a writer or just have the soul & spirit of a writer (or an artist or a romantic or a lover of life)
