C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the other members of the Inklings met each week to read and discuss each other’s work-in-progress, offering both encouragement and blistering critique. How did these conversations shape the books they were writing? How does creative collaboration enhance individual talent? And what can we learn from their example?
Beautifully illustrated by James A. Owen, Bandersnatch offers an inside look at the Inklings of Oxford—and a seat at their table at The Eagle and Child pub. It shows how encouragement and criticism made all the difference in The Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, and dozens of other books written by the members of this literary circle. You’ll learn what made these writers tick and more: inspired by their example, you’ll discover how collaboration can help your own creative process and lead to genius breakthroughs in whatever work you do.
Reviews
No one knows more than Diana Pavlac Glyer about the internal workings of the Inklings. In Bandersnatch, she shows us how they inspired, encouraged, refined and opposed one another in the course of producing some of the greatest literature of the last one hundred years. A brilliant and beautifully clear case study of iron sharpening iron. –Michael Ward, coeditor of C.S. Lewis at Poets Corner
The Inklings are about as important a group as ever existed in the literary world. This tremendous new book about them is much anticipated and hugely welcome! –Eric Metaxas, New York Times Bestselling author of Bonhoeffer and Miracles
What a gift! Bandersnatch is a joy to read and helps dispel that dangerous myth that our greatest writers created in solitude. We all need community in order to do our best work, and this book will show you how some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century did just that. You won’t be able to read this book just once. –Jeff Goins, founder of Tribe Writers and author of The Art of Work
About the Author
Diana Pavlac Glyer is an award-winning writer who has spent more than 40 years combing through archives and studying old manuscripts. She is a leading expert on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien; her book The Company They Keep (The Kent State University Press, 2007) changed the way we talk about these writers. Her scholarship, teaching, and work as an artist all circle back to one common theme: creativity thrives in community.
James A. Owen has written and illustrated the Starchild graphic novel, the Mythworld series of novels, the bestselling The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, and the forthcoming series Fool’s Hollow. He is also the author of the inspirational nonfiction trilogy The Meditations and the illustrator/designer of The Hundred Books Project, a series that showcases some of the greatest books ever published. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and more than a million copies are in print. He works in the Coppervale Studio, a century-old restored church in Northeastern Arizona.
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