A demanding and challenging book on writing that makes no apologies for assuming the reader is aiming at a high level and pulls no punches in its assertions about what is required. In that way it's refreshingly no-nonsense and unashamedly intellectual in its approach to literary aesthetics. You don't have to agree or even like his ideas of fiction, but it's a powerful model to work around or against, and it demands and rewards attention and thought. If writing manuals seem to you to be either too cuddly or too prosaic, this is certainly what you're looking for.