My Mentor: A Young Man's Friendship with William MaxwellA compelling reflection on wisdom, friendship, and the craft of writing, My Mentor is also the touching story of a young man's education at the hands of a master, William Maxwell. At age twenty-four, Alec Wilkinson approached Maxwell in hopes of being taught to write. A quarter century of friendship followed. As a fiction editor of The New Yorker, Maxwell was unquestionably one of the past century's most respected editors; as the author of the masterpieces They Came Like Swallows and So Long, See You Tomorrow, he was one of its greatest American writers. His unparalleled ear for language and eye for detail, his depth of understanding and experience, make his instructions on writing an essential guide to the craft. In honoring this great man of letters, Wilkinson creates a "deft and sympathetic portrait" (New York Times Book Review). |
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afternoon Alec Wilkinson apartment arrived asked aware beautiful bedroom began beside breath brought called Chicago Art Institute child childhood close Cyril Connolly daugh daughters dinner door editor Edward Hirsch Emmy Ernest Hemingway eyes face father feel felt Francis Steegmuller Frank O'Connor gave hand happened hear heard Illinois imagination Kate kind knew letter living room looked loved magazine married Maxwell died Maxwell wrote Maxwell's means meant memory Mentor mind morning mother never night novel Odysseus older once one's painting parents person remember road seemed sentences Shirley Hazzard sitting sleep someone sometimes stayed Steegmuller stop story Sylvia Townsend Warner talking taxi Telemachus tell things thought took trying turned typewriter walked wanted Wellfleet wife William Maxwell William Shawn window woman writing Yorker young younger Zona Gale