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Inadvertent

Series: Why I Write
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Inadvertent by Karl Ove Knausgaard explores the author's reflections on the nature of writing and creativity, stemming from his own experiences as a writer. Through personal anecdotes, Knausgaard delves into the challenges and curiosities of his literary journey, offering insights into how unforeseen events can shape a writer's craft and identity. This memoir is a thoughtful examination of the intersections between life, literature, and the unintended paths they take.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are captivated by intimate and introspective explorations of an author's creative process. It offers a compelling glimpse into the life and thoughts of a renowned writer, blending personal anecdotes with reflections on literature and art, making it a fascinating read for fans of deep, thoughtful memoirs.

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An accessible and personal β€œconfession” of the creative process of the award-winning Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The second book in the Why I Write series provides generous insight into the creative process of the award-winning Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard.

"Why I Write" may prove to be the most difficult question Karl Ove Knausgaard has struggled to answer, yet it is central to the project of one of the most influential writers working today. For the Norwegian artist, to write is to resist easy thinking and preconceived notions that inhibit awareness of our lives.

Knausgaard writes to β€œerode [his] own notions about the world... It is one thing to know something, another to write about it.” The key to enhanced living is the ability to hit upon something inadvertently, to regard it from a position of defenselessness and unknowing.

A deeply personal meditation, Inadvertent is a cogent and accessible guide to the creative process of one of our most prolific and ingenious artists.

Series: Why I Write

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  • Devotion
    Devotion is short enough to devour at one enjoyable sitting and thought-provoking enough to deserve re-reading.” β€”Suzi Feay, Financial Times Devotion shows rather than tells what it means to give a life to writing.” β€”Katherine Cooper, Hyperallergic A work of creative brilliance may seem like magicβ€”its source a mystery, its impact unexpectedly stirring. How does an artist accomplish such an...
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  • Devotion
    The National Book Award-winning author of Year of the Monkey, Just Kids, and M Train offers a rare, intimate account of her own creative process. Devotion is short enough to devour at one enjoyable sitting and thought-provoking enough to deserve re-reading.”—Suzi Feay, Financial Times β€œDevotion shows rather than tells what it means to give a life to writing.”—Katherine Cooper, Hyperallergic...
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  • Inadvertent
    The second book in the Why I Write series provides generous insight into the creative process of the award-winning Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard. "Why I Write" may prove to be the most difficult question Karl Ove Knausgaard has struggled to answer, yet it is central to the project of one of the most influential writers working today. For the...
    Paperback
    $1899
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • What Nails It
    From a celebrated critic, a heartfelt and adventurous reflection on the art of writing about art. "Essential for fans of Marcus and fruitful reading for anyone reflecting on the mysteries of art."β€”Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Writers write. They can't help it. They can't not." In this spirited book, the revered cultural critic Greil Marcus explains his compulsion as a yearning...
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  • Into the Weeds
    An illuminating reflection on the creative process from acclaimed fiction writer, essayist, and translator Lydia Davis When asked why she writes, Lydia Davis confesses that the question makes her uncomfortable. Maybe she would rather not know. Instead, Davis considers how she writes her stories, how other writers write, and what insights the how might provide into the why. In this...
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  • For Now
    In this third Why I Write volume, Eileen Myles addresses the social, political, and aesthetic conditions that shape their work. "A sharply etched, unvarnished self-portrait." β€”Kirkus Reviews β€œ[Myles] has a good time journeying through Hell, and like a hip Virgil, . . . is happy to show us the way.” β€”NPR "This is signature Myles: the unconventional syntax, the jazzy...
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  • What Nails It
    From a celebrated critic, a heartfelt and adventurous reflection on the art of writing about art. Essential for fans of Marcus and fruitful reading for anyone reflecting on the mysteries of art. β€” Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Writers write. They can't help it. They can't not." In this spirited book, the revered cultural critic Greil Marcus explains his compulsion as...
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  • The House of Being
    An exquisite meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit, from Pulitzer Prize winner and nineteenth U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey. Trethewey doesn't just explore the reasons why she writes. She also offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories. β€”Shannon Carlin, Time Searching and intimate, this impresses. β€”Publishers...
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  • Catching the Light
    U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award, Joy Harjo examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing. β€œHer enduring messageβ€”that writing can be redemptiveβ€”resonates: β€˜To write is to make a mark in the world, to assert β€˜I am.’’ The result is a rousing testament to the power...
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  • The House of Being
    An exquisite meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit, from Pulitzer Prize winner and nineteenth U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey. "Trethewey doesn't just explore the reasons why she writes. She also offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories." β€” Shannon Carlin, Time "Searching and intimate, this impresses."...
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  • Of Solids and Surds
    In the fourth volume in the Why I Write series, the iconic Samuel Delany remembers fifty years of writing and shaping the world of speculative fiction. Science fiction dwells mostly in the realm of possibility, where mysteries proliferate nevertheless, meaning is never static, and β€œtime and history have convinced us that things are not as they seem.” So too does...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Inadvertent by Karl Ove Knausgaard is appreciated for its introspective exploration of the writing process and the existential questions it raises. It offers comfort to aspiring writers through Knausgaard's candid reflections on his struggles with feelings of inadequacy, providing both a balm for those grappling with similar issues and a thoughtful meditation on the literary life.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780300248517

Publisher: Yale University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 November 2019

Country: United States

Imprint: Yale University Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Ingvild Burkey

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 121.0mm

Height: 178.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 98

About the Author

Karl Ove Knausgaard is an award-winning Norwegian author whose autobiographical novel cycle, My Struggle, spans six volumes which have been translated into over fifteen languages. His lecture was given at the 2017 Windham-Campbell prize ceremony.

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  • In the Land of the Cyclops
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