I’m a bit of a star fucker when it comes to writing colonies, and I have to say that this place, the Iowa Writers Workshop, is the wet dream of any wanna-be writer. I have a few dozen things on my plate right now which have prevented me from getting a few words out about this great book.

At first I surfed for the stars, and found lots of juicy stuff, especially about John Cheever, who I never knew had taught at the workshop. T.C. Boyle admits to the workshops being free form, and the teachers not really knowing how to run a writing class, which is exactly how I’d expect it. I went to undergrad school for structure, why go somewhere like that again? Jane Smiley talks about the students having instinct, which is basically the whole thing, that and practice.

This book could be used as a primer for anyone wanting to go to Iowa, but if you want to go to Iowa to be a writer, you might want to stay home. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you should not have any preconcieved notions about what you want, just the desire to write, and instinct. Lethem says you can’t write a novel until you’re forty-years old, I tend to agree with him, sort of. That doesn’t explain any of the greats that have written wonderful debuts of late, and doesn’t stop publishers from looking for them.Allan Gurganus makes the point that you need to work every day and be disciplined, I don’t think writers who write need to be told that, or the people who look to this book for guidance on their writing. Essentially they are looking in the wrong book, especially if they want to find some key ingredient to good writing. Craig Nova says it best, it’s not about good writing, just good re-writing, a phrase I’ve worn out. Anthony Bukowski talks about America of the “Iowa workshop heyday” being about literature, not about blockbusters as he sees it now. He’s right on, and I don’t know if what he’s talking about can ever be changed, even if it should be.Let me get back to the big fish of this book, which is John Irving, who I came to late, and feel like I might be watching a writer in his sunset years. I read The Fourth Hand and was impressed, but later I was told, “Jason, that’s not really John Irving, you gotta read Garp.” So I did, and it didn’t grab me. I suppose it’s a book that hits people in a time of their lives. Then I read Until I Find You, which is 500 pages too long, a good idea, certainly, compelling characters, but it is a high expectation to make of your readers when you write a book that is nearly 1,000 pages long. Murakami is just about to do it, but that’s Murakami. I couldn’t get past page five of Last Night In Twisted River, but I will say this, his words in this book are very interesting, and I would beat back dozens of students to get a seat in his class. His line about a novel; “it should sound like it has come out in one breath” is probably the most inspiring thing I’ve ever heard about writing a novel, and keeps me going every day on my own book. Okay, rant over.The problem with this book? It is almost too much to take in. There are so many anecdotes, countless stories to get lost in, and I especially love the “Books on the Nightstand” section that each contributing writer adds to his or her thoughts on Iowa Workshop. John Iriving, T.C. Boyle, Joe Haldeman, Sandra Cisneros, Jane Smiley, Allan Gurganus, Michelle Huneven, Jayne Anne Phillips and countless others contribute their thoughts on this influential workshop. Sometimes books like this can be the spark to get people back to the desk. Then again, ass in seat = writing.