Mentor A memoir

Tom Grimes, 1954-

Book - 2010

A chance encounter between two writers, one young, one older, develops into a wonderful friendship neither expected.

Saved in:

2nd Floor Show me where

BIOGRAPHY/Grimes, Tom
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor BIOGRAPHY/Grimes, Tom Checked In
Subjects
Published
Portland, Or. : Tin House Books 2010.
Language
English
Main Author
Tom Grimes, 1954- (-)
Edition
1st U.S. ed
Physical Description
242 p. ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9780982504888
9780982504895
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Grimes' candid and finely wrought memoir is at once a self-portrait of the writer as an anxious MFA student and homage to his guiding light, Frank Conroy, the legendary director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the crucible from which so many extraordinary writers emerged, from Flannery O'Connor to Kurt Vonnegut to Marilynne Robinson. Grimes was in his thirties when he arrived, weary of waiting tables and writing in grim isolation. Conroy had unshakable faith in Grimes, and the two formed a profound bond. Writing with the qualities Conroy tirelessly championed meaning, sense, clarity Grimes not only expresses boundless love and gratitude for Conroy, he also unveils with rare specificity the strange trance borne of concentrating on the endless possibilities of language, and the initial elation and eventual complications of publication. Fascinating literary anecdotes give way to somber revelations of the nervous breakdowns Conroy and Grimes each endured. Grimes' staggering self-critique, keen tribute to Conroy as writer and mentor, and hard-won insights into the true demands of writing and the deep resonance of literature are arresting and cautionary, inspiring and affecting.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

A grim look back at a writer's journey from publication to crippling self-doubt prompts Grimes (Redemption Song), the director of Texas State University M.F.A. program, to reflect deeply on his literary mentor, Frank Conroy. In 1989 Grimes, then a married 32-year-old waiter in Key West, Fla., with a few published short stories under his belt and a lot of ambition, was accepted into the Iowa Writers' Workshop on a top scholarship at the instigation of director Conroy (famous for an early memoir, Stop-Time), who anointed Grimes-on the strength of an unfinished baseball novel-as the next golden boy with unlimited promise. Grimes was both "electrified by hope" and paralyzed by anxiety during his stint in Iowa struggling to finish the novel; on Conroy's recommendation, Grimes signed with agent Eric Ashworth and soon had five offers by publishers, though none of them terribly enthusiastic or high paying. Pressured to make a quick decision, Grimes chose badly, he later believed, underscored by the subsequent critical failure of the novel, Season's End. "All Frank had hoped for had not come to pass," writes Grimes in defeat, and though their friendship endured until Conroy's death in 2005 ("I arrived fatherless; I departed a son"), Grimes never quite recovered from his overreaching ambition. Employing a constant tension of ambivalence-shame and tenderness, pride and humility-Grimes proves in this stunningly forthright, forlorn memoir that his great subject is Conroy himself. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An illuminating account of a writer's life under the tutelage of another writer.Today, Frank Conroy (19362005) is not read as much as he should be, but his harrowing memoir Stop-Time (1967) was required reading among aspiring writers for decades. Though he didn't publish much thereafter, Conroy became the head of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop and had trained a generation of teachers, novelists and poets by the time Grimes (Creative Writing/Texas State Univ.; City of God, 1995, etc.) arrived in Iowa City. That arrival seemed unlikely at first. After Conroy snubbed Grimes, then working as a waiter, at a Key West literary gathering, Grimes responded by tearing up a copy of Conroy's book. Yet Conroy, whose gruffness masked a certain reserve, turned out to be a generous teacher, awarding an already accomplished Grimes a fellowship and a coveted place in seminarsfavors fraught with peril in the Hobbesian political world of the university. Some of Grimes's education took place in smoky bars over many drinks, for "Frank ignored warnings about high cholesterol, got drunk nightly, and couldn't write without a cigarette." Yet that education was thorough and grounded, and what Grimes tells of itlessons that might be condensed into the credo, Pay attentionwill be of benefit to any aspiring writer, though no substitute for reading voraciously and writing unforgivingly. Grimes delivers an eloquent portrait of the writer's life, which is often solitary and difficultthough, despite his own history, not necessarily mired in madness (Prozac helped). The author writes self-effacingly, and sometimes quite humorously, as when he reveals the incestuous logrolling of academic writersyou teach my book, and I'll blurb yoursand the mechanics of the publishing world (as one insider scolds him, "The next time you get an offer from Farrar, Straus, take it").Without wasting a word, Grimes presents a thoroughly readable view of how storiesand writers, at least of a certain kindare made.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.