Daemonic advice
A new book on writing by one of our greatest authors convinces Michael Allen it’s worth every penny of its price
Michael Allen
GRUMPY OLD BOOKMAN
For literally sixty years I have been on the lookout for books which provide advice to writers – mainly advice on how to write fiction, since fiction is my primary interest. Year in, year out, there aren’t all that many books which even try to tackle this subject, but now here’s a new one, and it might perhaps appeal to you. Its title is Daemon Voices, and the author is Philip Pullman.
We don’t all have the same tastes in books, so you may not have read Philip Pullman’s work in the past. However, it’s fair to say that he is now getting towards the end of about as successful a writing career as you can have in this day and age. Pullman has won numerous awards for children’s books, has sold large numbers of novels all over the world, had his work adapted for the stage by the National Theatre, seen several more books adapted for film and television… and so on. His latest novel, La Belle Sauvage, published in 2017, was quickly declared book of the year by the staff of the Waterstones bookselling chain; by Christmas it had sold 260,000 copies.