Acknowledgments: A better way

 The acknowledgments section of a book is something we skip. But then we seek and devour interviews with authors. We wonder what they were thinking when they started work and how that latest project took such an interesting turn. We really want to know.

Of course, the writer could tell us. And so it turns out there is a better way to write acknowledgments. Two good examples come from Scot Newstok’s How to Think like Shakespeare and Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste.

Newstok lists books that he found helpful — and even lists one famous work that fell flat for him. He also lists conversations that he found helpful. I think conversations are one of life’s great delights. I like this development.

Wilkerson provided some biographical details on how her thinking on caste evolved. She also got down to some of the inspirations that kept her working. Many writers listen to music while they work. Wilkerson listed tunes, including Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 5.