Can You Walk on Water?

I'm going to do the unthinkable: I'm going to tell you about a book that the library doesn't own, but should. (If you're already shuddering, don't worry: I've just written up the purchase request.) By the way, the book is nonfiction, and if you're a writer, it's essential reading. It's called Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution by Derrick Jensen, and it's probably one of the best books on the craft that I've ever come across (and believe me, I 've read plenty). Now if you're not familiar with Derrick Jensen, here's the rundown: he's an environmental activist who has written extensively and passionately about saving the planet from the destructive bent of civilization, so be forewarned that he brings many of his beliefs and opinions to the table in Walking on Water. You don't, however, have to agree with any of them in order to get something out of this book. Frankly, you don't even have to be a writer. Jensen draws on his experience teaching creative writing at Eastern Washington University and Pelican Bay State Prison, and the lessons he brings forth in each chapter of Walking on Water underscore his belief that "the only real job of any teacher, especially a writing teacher, is to help students find themselves. Everything else is either a distraction, or at best, window dressing." Crack open this book and you'll find gems like the following: "I say, 'There are a hundred people inside of each of us who can write. There's the bitter old man, and the lonely old woman. The happy old woman or man tired but satisfied with life. The ecstatic young man, the gleeful little girl. The angry woman. They all have strong opinions, and they're all inside each one of us. Unfortunately, the only one who can't write is the one we wear on our faces all the time. The polite one. The bland one. The one who wants approval. The one who hedges every strong opinion, every strong impulse....'" You get the picture. All along the way, Jensen shares his rather unorthodox--and entertaining, I might add--methods of teaching, all designed to help his students "trigger passions strong enough that they lose self-consciousness and fall completely into the feelings, the words, the messages" they want to convey. And by the end of the book, Jensen shows them that maybe what they once thought impossible is perhaps within their grasp. That they can accomplish miracles. That they--and you--can indeed walk on water.