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Title: Dumbed down
Review: I've used this book in the classroom, mainly because it was one of the only texts available on cnf. However, I really dislike this book for its dumbed-down approach. Whazzup with that, Phil? Most of your audience for this book would be those in an academic setting...so why not write with some real insight? You manage to make this fascinating genre sound dull and stodgy...middle-agey...ZZZZzzzzZZZzzz...The problem with cnf, in general, is that so few good texts are available for those who teach creative writing. Even the AWP book with co-editors Carolyn Forche and good old Philip Gerard is second rate. It doesn't have NEARLY enough essays on the how-to's of writing cnf, and includes some cnf essays that are wildly inappropriate, as if the editors had to flesh out the volume and just crammed some stuff in at the last minute. If someone doesn't compile a better cnf textbook, I'm gonna have to do it myself. :-(
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