Unless It Moves the Human Heart

With this slim volume, Rosenblatt (Making Toast) offers his take on the challenges and responsibilities facing would-be writers. His approach differs from other writing treatises: the chapters follow a group of students taking one of Rosenblatt's courses at Stony Brook University in New York to reveal his dictates and theories on writing short stories, essays, and poems to readers as if they were part of the class. The text is full of dialog among real students, though Rosenblatt explains in his preface that these conversations are re-creations, not direct quotations. The informal and succinct format makes this a fast read but not a simple one. Rosenblatt's students voice many of the thorny questions that trouble writers—e.g., "Do I write only for myself, or with my reader in mind?" and "Do I read other writers' work to improve my own or do I avoid this for fear of too much outside influence?"