The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer's Craft

As a writer, I love this beautiful little book. As simply a reader, I still would have loved it!Son of outstanding poet, William Stafford, Kim Robert Stafford has his own unique and beautiful writing style. There is a succinct eloquence in his prose that, at times, is so poetically breath-taking ~ one must stop,go back and re-read the given passage to savour thehidden nuance of deeper meaning.Stafford never rambles or drifts, he does not dwellin the shallows of trite meaningless verbosity ~each word he writes carries depth and insight,each chapter enriches perception. This is pure literary kindling for any writer who feels their creativity needs a little spark...Serving to remind you, with every page, of the original joy to be found in artistic craft.

I came across this book at the local library in the new book section, had the book six weeks total and decided I had to buy it. There are simply too many subtleties, suggestions and insights to explore. If you aspire to be or if you are a writer, you'll treasure the ideas and admire the warm, personal tone of a man who invites you to open yourself to others, to the world around you and the world within. I didn't realize until part way through the book that Kim Stafford is an Oregon writer. It was good to see familiar places in fluid prose and through another's eyes.