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Author : Appleman Williams William
Title : The contours of American history
Year : 1961

Link download : Appleman_Williams_William_-_The_contours_of_American_history.zip

Foreword : Concerning Such Matters as Authors, Reviewers, Readers, and Even the Book Itself RAYMOND CHANDLER and William Faulkner shared some of the same insights into the nature of being an historian and a writer, and they warned against reading the reviews o one's own books. Both men understood that a writer's creativity, integrity, and performance are perpetually threatened by the urge to defend or assert himself, and to be praised by his peers and superiors. And they realized that the more an author fulfilled these natural and healthy needs by satisfying his reviewers, the more he would write to and for his reviewers. The writer would thus warp his own insights and perceptions, and turn away from his true audience. The writer and the reviewer are engaged in separate dialogues with the same protagonist the reader. The writer's responsibility is to offer himself directly and honestly, and at the highest level of performance he can reach, to the reading public. The reviewer's obligation is to do the same in order to inform and guide the reader's dialogue with the writer. When the author and the reviewer substitute each other for the reading public, they deny their separate purposes and responsibilities. ...