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Review: Tales of the Pen Master

by Geoffrey Hart

Previously published as: Hart, G. 2022. Book review: Tales of the Pen Master: Zen Stories for Editors, Proofreaders, and Other Publishing Professionals. Technical Communication 69(1):102-103.

Tales of the Pen Master: Zen Stories for Editors, Proofreaders, and Other Publishing Professionals
Jack Lyon. 2021. The Editorium LLC. [ISBN 978-1-4341-0483-0. 76 pages. US$24.95 (hardcover)]

The book reviewer interrupts the Pen Master’s lunch with a question that has weighed upon his mind. “How,” he asks, “is one to review a book?”

“One must first ask what the author’s goals are,” the Pen Master replies.

“And how does one know that?” the reviewer wonders.

The Pen Master ponders a moment. “If the author has whetted your appetite to learn more, then they have succeeded at their goal.”

In the practice of Zen, a koan is a thought puzzle intended to make you challenge your certainties, and in so doing, undermine those certainties to achieve insights that will reframe your subsequent understanding. In Tales of the Pen Master: Zen Stories for Editors, Proofreaders, and Other Publishing Professionals, Jack Lyon serves a tasty feast of challenges to inspire that hunger in anyone who works with words.

Each chapter begins with a short koan crafted by Lyon to introduce a different and important editing concept, including rules, mechanics, technology, meaning, knowledge, and the elusive nature of perfection. Tales of the Pen Master is full of simple yet profound wisdoms on a wide range of subjects. He enhances each topic by including both modern and ancient koans that provide further food for thought. Throughout, he emphasizes the self-effacing goal of editing: to clarify the author’s message and convey it as effectively as possible to their readers.

Lyon notes that “even if you know ‘the rules’, editing is not about making sure a manuscript always follows them”; in this concise book, it’s the job of the Pen Master “to open the minds of editors and proofreaders everywhere” to understanding (p. ix). Tales of the Pen Master accomplishes this with the same elegance as the many watercolor reproductions that illuminate the book and shed light on its meaning.

This slim book is not one to be devoured in a single sitting, but rather something to be savored, perhaps at a rate of a single chapter per day, to give yourself time to ponder and learn. And to start over again once you reach the end, for the journey to wisdom is iterative, not a one-way trip. Tales of the Pen Master would make a great gift for the editor in your life—or for yourself.