Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Book Review)

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Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley is one of the most thrilling, haunting, and poignant books I have ever read. Forget spending money on the latest Ban Drown, Kephen Sting, or Pames Jatterson (at least for now) if you haven’t read Frankenstein. The most heart-pumping, heart-wrenching, soul-destroying, life-affirming work of beauty is available to read completely free […]

Best Writing Resources For First Time Writers

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This list of the best writing resources for first time writers is exactly what I would have wanted when I first started writing. I found these writing tools slowly over the course of many years. But I wonder how much quicker I could have improved if I’d had all of them right from the very […]

The Art of X-Ray Reading by Roy Peter Clark (Book Review of the Week)

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Roy Peter Clark is one of my favourite literary instructors and his bestselling book Writing Tools totally sold me on this one: The Art of X-Ray Reading. If you are interested in learning how to read and gain greater insights from great books, this is a wonderful journey through the best that literature has to offer. I love analysing […]

How I Quit Smoking Overnight Without Cravings (Allen Carr Review)

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I don’t remember my last cigarette six years ago. I guess that’s a testament to how easy it was to quit smoking. But I do remember the failures. Dozens of attempts to quit smoking that resulted only in tears. “I’m quitting smoking today!” I liked to tell people that. “Yeah, yeah,” they said. “Whatever, Ben. Heard […]

Wolfgang Puck Teaches Cooking MasterClass Review

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I was so excited for the Wolfgang Puck Teaches Cooking MasterClass. I’ve already enjoyed the Gordon Ramsay MasterClass and the Thomas Keller MasterClass as part of MasterClass’s All Access Pass, but Wolfgang Puck was the one I was most looking forward to. I’ve been a big fan of Wolfgang Puck ever since I started eating […]

Posture Exercises For Writers

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I’ve done heavy manual work, and I’ve done heavy writing work. I’ve worked in a warehouse loading containers onto the back of a lorry, and I’ve worked behind a desk tapping keys on a computer. Without a doubt, I got more physical problems from being a writer. Back pain, sciatica, wrist strain, stiffness, headaches, eye […]

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Book Review of the Week)

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Lincoln in the Bardo, the first novel by George Saunders, is one of the best books I’ve ever read. This is a heartbreaking work of genius – the kind of thing that makes fellow writers swell with envy. You know that famous photograph of Lincoln before and after the Civil War? Well, the reason for such frightening contrast […]

Grammarly Premium Review – Is It Worth It?

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Grammarly’s sleek video marketing campaign finally worked on me. As someone who has written every single day for the last ten years, I decided to see if Grammarly Premium lived up to the hype. I admit I was a little hesitant to try Grammarly. I anticipated a steep learning curve for a basic spell checker (old MS Word style with that […]

Thomas Keller Teaches Cooking Techniques MasterClass Review

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I’m taking the Thomas Keller Teaches Cooking MasterClass as part of the new MasterClass All Access Pass. And I’m loving every minute of it. Masterclass have a phenomenal cooking class line up (Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters) so the All Access Pass is a no-brainer if you’re a foodie and aspiring chef: $180 for […]