After a chance encounter with a well-known author, Anna Bright begins a novel. He subject, the girlfriend of Modigliani, is a very obscure person in history, and Anna feels she can do her the justice she deserves. She becomes part of a small group of authors, some well-known and some just starting, who provide her with a lot of inspiration and some support. At the same time, Anna and her fiancé Will go through a difficult time, ending with their break-up. Will’s crazy mother takes Anna on a writer’s retreat at a locale run by and ex-lover who just happens to be a best-selling author of a how-to book for would-be authors. Follow Anna through this sometime painful and sometimes wonderful journey as she tries to find her muse. True to form, since they are breaking up after all, I saw no chemistry between Anna and Will. One wonders how they ever even go together. One thing I could not understand is the role of Will’s other and the whole episode at the writer’s retreat. Frankly, I think the book would have been better off without that interlude, though things would have had to change a lot. Tis particular interlude dragged the book out for about a hundred pages longer—about a hundred pages too long for me. Found myself looking for the next big event/break. The business with her would-be mother-in-law and her one-time lover did not really add anything to the book and could easily have been eliminated. I guess some authors fell that, if you don’t write a book of a certain length, no one will accept you as a genuine author and no agent will ever look seriously at you. I enjoyed the book. The events in Anna’s life showed me the ups and downs of a budding author. However, as I said, there was a lot of unnecessary baggage. I received this from Library Thing to read and review. ( )

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story of finding oneself in a writers world. The storyline was flawless and had some twist that were unexpected. The story was one that kept you turning the pages and you felt you couldn't turn them fast enough. I enjoyed the writers style of writing and look forward to many, MANY more books from this author. ( )

This is a novel!!! I really must read the blurb when I ask for a book to review because I thought this was a book about how to write a novel!!
Its an entertaining read as well as funny and infuriating. ( )

How to Be a Literary Genius is the story of a young woman finding her way as a writer. I really enjoyed Anna's character development in this book. I thought it was really well done. There were a couple of twists that I didn't expect, and I wanted to keep reading to find out where she would take the story next. ( )