Comforts of the Abyss will be published on June 7 of 2022. W. W. Norton and Company provided me an early galley for this honest review.

While I was expecting a lot more instructional how-to out of a creative writing focused book, I still got a good bit from this one and discovered a fascinating author in the process.

Prior to this, I was unfamiliar with the work of Philip Schultz. He is the author of eight poetry collections, including Luxury and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Failure, as well the memoir My Dyslexia, and The Wherewithal, a novel in verse. The founder of The Writers Studio, he has been teaching creative writing since 1971.

Through this new book, Schultz reflects upon events of his life. He grew up in Rochester, NY, which gives me a bit of a connection to him. My father also grew up in Rochester and that is where I eventually went to college for my undergraduate degree. Schultz ties his story into writing, in particular first-person narratives by many great authors whom he encountered in his life. In a number of ways, this all reminded me of the literature electives I took in college. It was both scholarly and insightful.