Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she turns her writer’s eye to subjects ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to creativity, feminism, and the joy of imagination.
In this collection of essays, talks, and performance pieces, one of our great literary icons shares profound literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, and playful musings on gender, beauty, and aging. With keen wit and masterful language, Le Guin is provocative, clear-eyed, and often exhilarating—whether issuing a sly takedown of Hemingway or an impassioned defense of the public library.
The Wave in the Mind is a celebration of the art of writing, the power of reading, and the boundless possibilities of imagination. Brimming over with Le Guin’s fierce and undeniable love for storytelling, it is a call to use the gift we all share: the ability to turn anything into a story.
“All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.”—Ursula K. Le Guin, from The Wave in the Mind.
“Le Guin here proves herself to be a skilled and thought-provoking writer of nonfiction as well. Her persnickety, opinionated voice often leaps off the page.” —Publishers Weekly
“Essential reading for anyone who imagines herself literate and/or socially concerned or who wants to learn what it means to be such.” —Library Journal
“What a pleasure it is to roam around in Le Guin's spacious, playful mind. And what a joy to read her taut, elegant prose.” —Erica Jong
URSULA K. LE GUIN (1929–2018) is an internationally celebrated author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and essays, including The Left Hand of Darkness, Always Coming Home, and the Earthsea Cycle series. Her numerous literary awards include six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she turns her writer’s eye to subjects ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to creativity, feminism, and the joy of imagination.
In this collection of essays, talks, and performance pieces, one of our great literary icons shares profound literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, and playful musings on gender, beauty, and aging. With keen wit and masterful language, Le Guin is provocative, clear-eyed, and often exhilarating—whether issuing a sly takedown of Hemingway or an impassioned defense of the public library.
The Wave in the Mind is a celebration of the art of writing, the power of reading, and the boundless possibilities of imagination. Brimming over with Le Guin’s fierce and undeniable love for storytelling, it is a call to use the gift we all share: the ability to turn anything into a story.
“All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.”—Ursula K. Le Guin, from The Wave in the Mind.
Praise
“Le Guin here proves herself to be a skilled and thought-provoking writer of nonfiction as well. Her persnickety, opinionated voice often leaps off the page.” —Publishers Weekly
“Essential reading for anyone who imagines herself literate and/or socially concerned or who wants to learn what it means to be such.” —Library Journal
“What a pleasure it is to roam around in Le Guin's spacious, playful mind. And what a joy to read her taut, elegant prose.” —Erica Jong
Author
URSULA K. LE GUIN (1929–2018) is an internationally celebrated author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and essays, including The Left Hand of Darkness, Always Coming Home, and the Earthsea Cycle series. Her numerous literary awards include six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
