Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"They're out there. Day and night, in any given locale, they're hard at it. Our novelists and poets, who strive away in shabby rooms, reverse the formula daily: they live in order to work. But their work helps us to live. They win no honors and receive no grants. They hobnob with no famous elders. Yet they comprise, in their dedication and lack of 'prospects,' a force of pure, unpaid human creativity in service to something larger and more lasting than themselves. Their incentive? Destiny. Their inspiration when faced with privation and self-doubt? Bygone literary gods who struggled much the same. Their rewards: How to name them? But they more than mitigate the annoyances of thin wallets, scant praise, nonexistent reputations." --M. Allen Cunningham, from the introduction
Taking a cue from Tillie Olsen's Silences and the works of Alain de Botton, The Honorable Obscurity Handbook is novelist M. Allen Cunningham's gloriously uncynical answer to a publishing world awash in cynical careerism and bottom-line thinking. Part consoling sourcebook, part cultural commentary, part wry self-help manual, and part inspirational anthology, this slim volume is packed with insights relevant to any creative worker, whatever their field.
Synopsis
Part consoling sourcebook, part cultural commentary, and part wry self-help manual, this gloriously un-cynical handbook provides advice for creatives struggling in a career world awash in bottom-line thinking. Readers will enjoy the comical aspects such as e-mails from the literary agent of Henry David Thoreau to the helpful tips like the 5-point productivity plan for writers. From humor pieces, to essays, to quotes, this inspirational anthology is packed with insights that will appeal to all creatives.
About the Author
M. Allen Cunningham is the author of two acclaimed novels, The Green Age of Asher Witherow and Lost Son, and the illustrated limited-edition story collection Date of Disappearance. He is the co-founder of the cultural commentary blog Soul Shelter and the recipient of fellowships from the Oregon Arts Commission, Literary Arts, and Yaddo. Cunningham lives in Portland, Oregon.