About the Book
With his characteristic talent for finding connections between writing and the stuff of our lives, Peter Turchi ventures into new and even more surprising territory. In A Muse and a Maze, Turchi draws out the similarities between writing and puzzle-making and its flip-side, puzzle-solving. As he teases out how mystery lies at the heart of all storytelling, he uncovers the magic--the creation of credible illusion--that writers share with the likes of Houdini and master magicians. In Turchi's associative narrative, we learn about the history of puzzles, their obsessive quality, and that Benjamin Franklin was a devotee of an ancient precursor of sudoku called Magic Squares. Applying this rich backdrop to the requirements of writing, Turchi reveals as much about the human psyche as he does about the literary imagination and the creative process.
Table of Contents:
The Contemplation of Recurring Patterns 1. Directions for Attaining Knowledge of All Dark Things 2. Disturbing Strangeness and the Composer's Dream 3. Seven Clever Pieces 4. The Treasure Hunter's Dilemma 5. The Line, the Pyramid, and the Labyrinth 6. The Pleasures of Difficulty Sources and Solutions
About the Author :
Peter Turchi's books include Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer; Suburban Journals: The Sketchbooks, Drawings, and Prints of Charles Ritchie, in collaboration with the artist; a novel, The Girls Next Door; and a collection of stories, Magician. Turchi's short story "Night, Truck, Two Lights Burning," listed as one of 100 Notable Stories of 2002 by the editors of Best American Short Stories and one of 15 Recommended Stories by the jury for the O. Henry Prize Stories, has been published in Arabic and, in English, combined with images by Charles Ritchie, in a limited edition artist's book. He has also coedited, with Andrea Barrett, A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft and The Story Behind the Story: 26 Stories by Contemporary Writers and How They Work; and, with Charles Baxter, Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life. Turchi's stories have appeared in Ploughshares, Story, the Alaska Quarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, and the Colorado Review. He has received Washington College's Sophie Kerr Prize, an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award, North Carolina's Sir Walter Raleigh Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. From 1993 to 2008 he directed the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. Turchi recently taught at Arizona State University, where he was director of the creative writing program, and he's currently a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston.
Review :
"Turchi invites us to think about books as mysteries unfolding in time, giving us clues that we piece together." --Washington Post "One of the country's foremost thinkers on the art of writing...Turchi argues that writers are like magicians who aim to lead us to a state of wonder." --Houston Chronicle "Although Turchi's knack for drawing connections can seem like a sleight of hand in itself, his writing is consistently engaging, lively, and thought provoking. The interactive element is also a delight, as there are actual puzzles scattered throughout (answers are provided in the back) to demonstrate the challenges and rewards offered by puzzles--and by good writing. And though Turchi's volume seems most tailored to writers, readers and puzzle lovers should find much of value as well."--Publishers Weekly "Altogether stimulating."--Brain Pickings "Full of lush illustrations, embedded puzzles, and notes on Harry Houdini, Alison Bechdel, tangrams, labyrinths, and sudoku."--Fiction Advocate "The wide-ranging connections he draws are convincing, provocative, and not infrequently funny, drawing the reader into a labyrinth of reflection where each turn brings a new surprise."--Santa Fe New Mexican "Informed and informative...thoughtful and thought provoking."--Midwest Book Review "Turchi combines puzzles and discussions of magic tricks as well as conventional literary analysis to show how arranging information to deepen the sense of mystery can make writing more interesting."--Chicago Reader "A MUSE AND A MAZE is my favorite book about literature. The prose is engaging, and the mind behind is filled with insight, depth and a great sense of play. Anyone who likes books should read it." --Chris Offutt, author of No Heroes: A Memoir of Coming Home "He's done it again. Peter Turchi, the best-selling author who inspires artists, designers, and anyone trying to understand how to capture an audience's imagination through storytelling, has written a book that aligns the art of literature with puzzle creation and illusions."--World Literature Today "The tension between these concepts--puzzle and mystery--forms the center of Turchi's learned, funny, and uncategorizable book, part writing guide, part literary criticism, and part playful compendium of tricks, games, and problems."-Colorado Review
