Making
Book
by Teresa Nielsen Hayden
A book review by Mark L. Olson
I've known for years that tnh has a marvelous way with words, but Making Book nicely proves it. Making Book is fan writing at its best: essays on miscellaneous topics, all interesting and all beautifully written. (I do wish I could write like that!)
I particularly liked:
"God and I," describing a much younger tnh's ultimately successful effort to get thrown out of the Mormon Church.
"Tits and Cockroaches," with unforgettable descriptions of many NY fans based on how they deal with cockroaches.
"On Copyediting." TNH gave me a copy of this several years ago. It impressed me so much that when Ben Yalow selected the Nielsen Haydens to be his Special Guests at Boskone (an excellent choice, by the way!) I urged him to see if they were interested in doing a Boskone Book. It's real impressive that anyone can making a guide to copyediting interesting and witty.
"The Pastafazool Cycle" A hilarious description of the historical development of a non-existent historical cycle of epic stories which very neatly shows how `woo-woo' (a technical term for academic and semi-academic wish-fulfillment) research gets done.
TNH is an interesting person and a wonderful writer. Read her book, you'll like it. Highly recommended.
(Making Book is a NESFA Press book, but there is no bias involved. She's really that good.)
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