The Writing Class

by Jincy Willett

Book Overview

Amy Gallup is gifted, perhaps too gifted for her own good. Published at only twenty-two, she peaked early and found critical but not commercial success. Now her former life is gone, along with her writing career and beloved husband. A reclusive widow, her sole companion a dour, flatulent basset hound who barely tolerates her, her daily mantra "Kill Me Now, " she is a loner afraid to be alone. Her only bright spot each week is the writing class that...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312330669
• ISBN13: 9780312330668
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.1" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Not particularly funny or engaging.

The reviews claim this is hilarious or at least funny. I recall reading one line that made me laugh. Otherwise it’s rather boring with no characters worth getting to know. I don’t recommend it and I put it in the donation pile without bothering to finish the last 20-30 pages.

Hilarious Black Comedy/Mystery

Amy Gallup, a promising writer in her youth, is now a middle-aged and teaching adult education extension courses in fiction writing. Amy is a loner who is frightened of being alone, a blocked writer who can only write clever lists on the blog she considers private. She lives with a basset hound who merely tolerates her and has no friends. The 13 students in her new class at first seem totally hopeless, but they coalesce into a decent group and Amy finds herself enjoying the class meetings. Then someone in the class begins writing cruel critiques, making threatening phone calls, and playing frightening practical jokes. When one of the class members is found dead, possibly murdered, Amy informs the administration, and the class is immediately canceled. But the rest of the group want to continue, and they meet to try and figure out which class member is the murderer. This black comedy is often laugh-out-loud funny, especially at the beginning of the book, and the suspense builds to the final pages. http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/W_Authors/Willett_Jincy.html

Genius!

I loved "The Writing Class." Jincy Willet truly captures the loopy world of writing workshops. Yes, read this book for the incredibly well-crafted murder mystery, but also for the very informative lessons on creative writing. Willet is subtle, brilliant, wise and witty, very funny and yes, more than a little bit naughty. I love her writing and suggest you read all her books. I teach writing and often refer students to her fiction as example of exquisite character and plot construction. The gal is a master at it!

A perfect literary mystery

One reviewer complained that the novel turns into a whodunit, and that is true. So if you do not like that kind of thing, you won't like this book. If you do, however, this is perfection of the genre. I was spellbound from the first class. I used to teach writing at a Community College, so I really identified with the main character and her mixture of dread and sincere desire to teach. Willett finesses the difficult problem of showing you bad writing without writing badly admirably. The little stories are so perfect for the characters who wrote them, that they are good in that way and interesting for that reason. My only complaint about this work is that I think the title will put people off just as the title of her previous novel, "Winner of the National Book Award," probably did. The previous book was the best treatment of sexual power struggles and that I have ever read. You sure wouldn't imagine that from the title. Here again, the title leads you to expect some silly character study of people in a writing class, instead of a really fun murder mystery. It is sort of like the title of Amy Gallup's blog, "Go Away." Willett is a mysterious character herself. How can a person who writes this well withhold her talent from the world? She has only written two novels and a collection of short stories, and all of these are so satisfying.

One of the best books of the year

I was somewhat apprehensive to pick up this book because I did not really enjoy "Jenny and the Jaws of Life", Ms. Willett's short story collection. I could not have been more wrong. "The Writing Class" was not only hysterically funny but even had a suspenseful mystery, which was really a great bonus because the book could have stood alone as merely a story about a somewhat hapless writing class and its jaded teacher. I saw one of the other reviewers mentioned the protagonist was not likeable because of her cynicism. I totally disagree -- her cynicism and wit made her my favorite book character so far this year. If you have a wry and/or sarcastic sense of humor, and cringe at bad grammar and spelling, this book is for you!

A fantastic read, genre be damned!

The Writing Class is a book to satisfy the hard-to-please, for it satisfies on so many levels. As a mystery, it is a not-easily-guessed puzzle, all the way to the end. It is funny enough to please the most finicky of humor-lovers. Action sequences are vividly described and grip the reader. Character development is believable, and is not limited to the protagonist, Amy. The book even serves as a source of tips for wanna-be writers. Willett has hit the mark with this one just as surely as she did with Winner of the National Book Award and Jenny and the Jaws of Life. My request to Ms. Willett would be that she now take Amy by the hand (or by the scruff of the neck, if needed) and lead her into other books, perhaps in other genres altogether: a Fabio-emblazoned romance called Love's Lascivious Extension Prof, an espionage thriller titled Mightier Than the Sword, perhaps some sci-fi - The Universal Point of View, some erotica - Amy Does Alexandria, a bit of distopian fantasy - What Rhymes With Clockwork Orange? If anyone can tackle, successfully and with wit, the genres currently sub-dividing bookstore shelves, it will be Jincy Willett.