Read by Bernadette Dunne

"Doctors don't imitate Galen. Why should writers follow Aristotle? Jane Alison in her fresh, original book about narrative is our new Aristotle." ―Edmund White, author of The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: "For centuries there's been one path through fiction we're most likely to travel―one we're actually told to follow―and that's the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides…But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculo-sexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Why not draw on them, too?" W. G. Sebald's Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc―or, in nature, wave. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her "museum of specimens" include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel García Márquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison. Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let's leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike. Introductionphilip roth's goodbye, columbustobias wolff's the barracks thiefraymond carver's "where i'm calling from"SpeedsMURRAY BAIL'S EUCALYPTUSSTUART DYBEK'S "PET MILK"GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ'S CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLDSUSAN MINOT'S "LUST"4. WavesCLARICE LISPECTOR'S "THE FIFTH STORY"1. Point, Line, TextureMARY ROBISON'S WHY DID I EVERSANDRA CISNEROS'S THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREETMARGUERITE DURAS'S THE LOVER (AGAIN)SHERMAN ALEXIE'S "CAPTIVITY"tobias wolff's the barracks thief (again)CARYL PHILLIPS'S CROSSING THE RIVERmarguerite duras's the loverPrimary Elementspatterning with speeds or flow2. Movement and Flow5. Waveletsw. g. sebald's the emigrantsvikram chandra's "shakti"3. ColorW. G. SEBALD'S THE EMIGRANTS (AGAIN)6. MeandersJAMAICA KINCAID'S MR. POTTERPatternsNICHOLSON BAKER'S THE MEZZANINE (AGAIN)ANNE CARSON'S NOXJOYCE CAROL OATES'S BLACK WATERmarie redonnet's hôtel splendid7. SpiralsALAIN ROBBE-GRILLET'S JEALOUSY8. Radials or Explosions9. Networks and Cells10. Fractals11. Tsunami?Epilogue "Alison's close readings can be exhilarating…[and] Alison's prose is potent and lush, her enthusiasm infectious." "You don't have to be a professional writer to enjoy novelist Jane Alison's brilliant new craft guide." "Alison's book is like a cold shower to ward off the standard narrative arc and rewire our mental circuitry to see the patterns of nature in the structure of novels." "The best work of literary criticism I've read so far this year." "A book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read…She offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive." "Who knew literary criticism could be so much fun?" "Her fascinating new book…looks at the ways in which…writing can shine when not on a typical linear path, when it is allowed instead to spiral and spring forward and back, fold in on itself or unravel in infinite directions, all of which feel new and exciting." "In her boundlessly inventive look at narrative form…Alison would have readers conceive of other dramatic shapes…including waves in Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus; meandering paths, like rivers or snail trails, that allow the reader to 'wander a bit, look about, pause'…It would do a disservice to this work to pigeonhole it as 'literary criticism;' the study is filled with c

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