Summary:

"Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative" by Jane Alison investigates alternative narrative structures beyond traditional linear storytelling. Alison explores how patterns like spirals, meanders, and explosions can shape compelling and dynamic stories, providing fresh perspectives for writers and readers alike.

As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s been one path through fiction we’re most likely to travel― one we’re actually told to follow―and that’s the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides . . . But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculosexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Why not draw on them, too?"

W. G. Sebald’s Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc--or, in nature, wave. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her “museum of specimens” include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel García Márquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison.

Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let’s leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.

Editorial Reviews:

"A revolutionary approach to narrative structure that will change the way you read and write stories." - The New York Times

"Jane Alison offers a compelling argument for rethinking the forms of narrative." - Publisher's Weekly

"Insightful and inspiring, this book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in storytelling." - Kirkus Reviews

About the Author:

Jane Alison is an acclaimed author and professor of creative writing. With several novels and memoirs to her name, Alison's work is celebrated for its innovative narrative techniques and insightful explorations of human experience.