Discount Price: $9.95
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780743410588
ISBN number: 0743410580
Label: Washington Square Press
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 80
Printing Date: December 01, 2000
Publishing house: Washington Square Press
Release Date: November 28, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 58102
Studio: Washington Square Press
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Amazon.com:
Kurt Vonnegut (Breakfast of Champions): writer of wild, satiric, outrageous fiction. Lee Stringer (Grand Central Winter): one-time homeless crack addict who discovered that pencils are not just drug implements. Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer: a mutual admiration society. Like Shaking Hands with God: a transcription of two moderated conversations between Vonnegut and Stringer--one before a bookstore audience, one over lunch.
Shaking Hands has a slender profile and a pretty cover. But the only thing slight about these conversations is that they leave the reader wanting more. The book is billed as 'a conversation about writing,' but it is as much about life as about writing. Neither Vonnegut nor Stringer is interested in holing up in a garret to write. Vonnegut makes any excuse to go out and rub elbows with the folks who buy lottery tickets. Stringer wonders, 'Can you write anything on Park Avenue, really?' Vonnegut laments his happy childhood as 'no way for a writer to begin.' Stringer panics--while he wrote his very first book as if on a high, the subsequent one may emerge from an awareness of Oprah and marketability.
Vonnegut and Stringer are passionate about one another's work, passionate about life, and passionate about writing, but not so much so that they ever, for a moment, lose their sense of irony or humor. In the age of the sound bite, literature can be deemed, on some level, useless. Stringer praises writing, in that context, as 'a struggle to preserve our right to be not so practical.' And Vonnegut? 'We are here on Earth to fart around,' he proclaims in Timequake (excerpted here). 'Don't let anybody tell you any different!' --Jane Steinberg
Product Description:
In this elegantly produced, extended conversation celebrating the writing craft, Kurt Vonnegut and acclaimed Grand Central Winter author Lee Stringer explore what it means to be a writer -- and what it means to be human.
It is an increasingly rare occasion these days to find two writers willing to speak candidly, thoughtfully, and concretely about the intersection of life and art. And that these two writers happen to be Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer makes Like Shaking Hands With God a truly historic and joyous occasion. The setting is a bookstore in New York City in October 1998. Before a crowd of several hundred, Vonnegut and Stringer jump into the aesthetic fray, taking up humanity, writing, salvation, art, and the challenge of living, day to day.
As Vonnegut would say, 'It was a magical evening.' A passionate and inspiring discourse between two extraordinary writers, Like Shaking Hands With God is a book for anyone interested in why the simple act of writing things down can be so much more important than the amount of memory in our computers.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
The transcript of two conversations between writers Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer. Helpful to those who are considering writing or those who are required to study writing. What is offered? Some wisdom, a few prods, some encouragement--and the imperative: write nothing insincere.
Rated by buyers -
I was able to finish this short book in a few hours at my job. When I was in high school very first looking for colleges to attend, the only thing I was certain of was that I wanted to write. Of course life managed to get in the way of that dream, however, after reading this 80 page conversation I feel more inspired to pick up where I left my dream. I was expecting more out of the conversation, but hearing these two incredible authors speak back and forth makes you want to read more and more of their material. I suppose I find it nice to see a personally attached to writers. I would completely recommend this book to anyone who reads their work, and has an hour or two extra.
Rated by buyers -
This is a wisp of a book. At less than 80 pages, I read it in one evening in the time it took me to eat a few tapas and down two pints of beer. By the time the check arrived, I was already writing down my thoughts inside the back cover.
But what an enjoyable wisp it is!
Almost everyone I know is a fan of Kurt Vonnegut, and so the colorful and curmudgeonly wisdom he brings to the table here is no surprise. But who is this Lee Stringer guy? By the end, I began to think of him as a superior version of James Frey (author of the badly written pseudo memoir "A Million Little Pieces") with the main difference that Mr. Stringer (1) writes well and (2) his tales about life on Skid Row are true. Actually, now that I think of it, that's kind of like saying I'm like Shakespeare except that he (1) writes a lot better and (2) he's been dead for almost 400 years.
Anyway, back to the book: I admit that Like Shaking Hands With God doesn't offer a great price-per-word ratio (it's slim and relatively expensive) but it does offer a great deal of wisdom on its handful of pages. Based on two conversations between two friends with a lot of respect for each other, these guys are smart, they know how to express themselves, and they've been around the block a few times.
The book bills itself as "a conversation about writing" and it is that. But it's more of a conversation about being, but a kind of being that involves writing. For a lot of avid readers, that's a perfect fit.
Rated by buyers -
I liked the conversational tone of it- and it really is a very enjoyable short and easy read. The second part of the book isn't as good as the first. If you like Vonnegut, you'll dig this. Lots of ideas to chew on.
Rated by buyers -
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut is good! Well almost anything. I was attracted to this gem featuring two authors of different generations conversing about the meaning of writing in their lives. I expected an enlightening tome that would set my mind to thinking and provide me with new insight.
Neither happened. Vonnegut and Stringer are good writers but these interviews just didn't come off well in print. A question is raised as to what the two writers had in common. Stringer gave some good points but Vonnegut rambled on into the wild blue yonder. Of the two, Stringer appeared to stay focused on the questions and provided the reader with insight as to how writing impacted on his life and freed him from his own internal demons.
As a collector's item in your Vonnegut library, yes, do indeed purchase it. If you want something more in depth with Vonnegut and Stringer read their works. This text just doesn't get to the heart of their writing world.
Find other books like this one:
