This week’s edition of Inspired By is dedicated to our very own SparkPress client, Grant Jarrett.  We would like to wish Grant a HUGE congratulations on the official publication of Ways of Leaving, now available for purchase on paperback and Kindle.

Here, Grant shares with us five books that have inspired him most as a writer and explains each choice…

 

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy

“Cormac McCarthy’s Suttree is beautifully written, eloquent, dark as Tennessee mud at midnight, and overflowing with the rich substance of life. Read a gorgeous sentence or two of Suttree and you’re likely to find you can’t turn away. Just thinking about this book, with its superabundance of heart and humor, makes me yearn to read it again. And I will.”

 

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

“Richard Yates’s stunning and troubling masterpiece, Revolutionary Road, has burned its indelible brand on my consciousness. The dysfunction, the insanity, the humor amidst the turmoil, and the characters’ ‘insights’ make this book unforgettable and true in the way that only great fiction can be true.”

 

The Stories (so far) of Deborah Eisenberg by Deborah Eisenberg

“The stories in Deborah Eisenberg’s wonderful collection, The Stories (so far) of Deborah Eisenberg, make me feel urgent and alive, but more than that, they make me want to write. Her dialogue sparkles and delights, and every so often you find yourself an unwitting passenger on one of those tense, agitated paragraphs that keep accelerating around switchbacks, creating the sensation they’re about to jump the track and tug you along for the inevitable catastrophe, though somehow, after the danger has passed and you’ve regained your bearings, you realize you’re still traveling in the same direction, albeit somewhat agitated and with a slightly altered perspective.”

 

Keep the Change by Thomas McGuane

“Thomas McGuane has consistently demonstrated that combining humor and pathos is not only possible, but, when executed with artistry, impactful and compelling. Keep the Change, just one of many examples of this author’s virtuosity, is the story of a man at a crossroads, a man whose dubious instincts and social ineptitude sabotage his good intentions, often with hilarious results. With searing wit, unwavering candor, and 190-proof dialogue, this chronicle of a life in disarray is captivating and illuminating.”

 

Winter of our Discontent by John Steinbeck

“I’ve read Steinbeck’s Winter of our Discontent several times, and every time I read those heart-seizing final pages, where Ethan, on the verge of suicide, chooses to live, I weep. As I write this, it occurs to me that perhaps that scene was calling out from my subconscious as I wrote the final chapter of Ways. (But don’t blame Steinbeck.)”

“Fiction inspires me when it reveals some truth about the human condition, about who we are and what drives us, when it touches rather than manipulates, draws me in and makes me think, feel, question, laugh or weep like a child—all of this with honesty, acuity, and unyielding artistic integrity.”

 

Pinterest PS! Don’t forget to check out our Pinterest board inspired by Ways of Leaving !