Écrire un roman ou une nouvelle relève-t-il de l’art ou de l’artisanat ? The Art of Fiction, and the Craftsmanship of Writing rassemble les réflexions fondatrices de Henry James et Frederic Taber Cooper sur la création littéraire.

Frederic Taber Cooper, who was an editor and author, provides a superb insight into the works of some of the most popular authors of the turn of the century decade. Excerpt: The subjects of the essays included in this volume differ widely in aim and in accomplishment; but all of them possess, to a considerable extent, the gift that makes them next of kin to the minstrel and troubadour, to the ancient fabulist, and to the forgotten spinner of the world s first nursery tales, the gift of holding the attention by the spell of the spoken word.