This latest offering from non-fiction author and literary agent/agency, Donald Maass, basically talks about the melding of literary and genre writing, or beautifully written, character driven novels with page-turning, plot driven novels, to create what he calls literary/commercial fiction.

Maas liberally quotes (about a quarter of the book) from his favorite examples. Another big chunk of pages are taken up by exercises which I found interesting to read, but tedious to undertake.

Other chapters include his thoughts on creating: inner journey, outer journey, standout characters, three levels of story, beautifully written, and elements of awe.

This is not a book for beginners who need the basics like goal, motivation and conflict. Maas assumes you've written a novel, had limited success and want more.

A few good ideas here but the premise is 'go big or go home'. Write big stories about larger than life characters in life altering situations.

Oh, really?