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Below you will find two versions of a book review. The first is the one I submitted to the editor of Teach Secondary magazine, while the second is the version he actually published. In this article I invite readers to say which version you like, and why. If you wish to leave a comment, please subscribe to my Write\! newsletter and comment on the article there.
Magic & Mechanics: A Reverse Engineering Book (Tom Conaghan (Ed.),Scratch, £10.99)
My version
The subtitle says it all. We are presented with six short stories by George Sauders, Claire-Louise Bennett, Mark Haddon, Camilla Grudova, Amber Redland and Colin Barrett. That line-up would in itself be a reason to consider including this in the English Department’s arsenal, but the book goes much further. After each story there is an interview with its author in which topics such as how the story came about, what it draws on, and the way it has been written are discussed. This is hugely valuable for English students, and I would argue that the interviews would serve as stand-alone excerpts to discuss with students, because they provide insights into how a piece of writing can be approached or how it might be analysed. Be aware that the stories were not, of course, written for a school readership, so some of the language is, shall we say, robust. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Terry Freedman
The published version
This unique anthology presents us with six short stories by George Saunders, Claire- Louise Bennett, Mark Haddon, Camilla Grudova, Amber Redland and Colin Barrett. That line-up alone would secure it a spot on the bookshelves in most English departments, but Magic & Mechanics then goes further by pairing each story with an author interview, in which the aforementioned practitioners of the short story craft discuss how the story in question came to be, the inspirations they drew on and how the story was eventually received by readers and critics. These interviews contain a wealth of hugely valuable insights for English students exploring the processes of creative writing - though be advised that the stories themselves were never written with a teenage readership in mind, and hence include some, shall we say, robust language in places...
Reviewed by Terry Freedman
