Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method

I'm in a peculiar situation with this book. I'm actively recommending it to people... but I'm also giving it two stars. I'll try to explain my reconciliation process.

The ideas in this book are coherent. Many of Weinberg's suggestions are techniques I've gleaned from other sources and the stories, suggestions, and exercises are all worth working through. It's a light read and the entire book is easy to digest.

So why two stars? The writing is just not very good. It's not terrible. But for a book about writing it feels like there should be more to this little pamphlet. The transitions are not arresting, but there is grit in the derailleur. His ideas are sound, but they do not read as a continuum. It's perhaps a genius form of self-reference that his book feels like running one's hand over a fieldstone wall ... but I'm guessing that wasn't intentional. Brilliant writing feels smooth and worn, like the plaster of some Mughalai palace. He never quite achieves that.

I will continue to recommend this book, under two conditions. One, it must be paired with Clear and Simple as the Truth. Two, it should be digested as a textbook. Clear and Simple is sufficiently pretentious that The Fieldstone Method will feel refreshing afterward — but more like a mug full of lukewarm water while re-shingling your house in cloudless July than a gin and tonic on the porch. Still, worth reading.