Books like Jay Bain by Frances Dunlap Heron

Set in 1980s Glasgow, Shuggie Bain follows a boy growing up amid economic hardship, drug culture, and a mother's alcoholism, as he seeks love, identity, and hope in a bleak, working‑class environment.

Francine Prose shows how studying great writers—from Dostoyevsky to Joyce—reveals the craft of storytelling, urging readers to analyze language and technique in order to improve their own writing.

A thoughtful meditation on Annie Dillard’s creative process, woven from anecdotes and vignettes that illuminate her distinctive prose style.

"Whether it is the loss of a parent to death or divorce; bullying; alcoholism or drug abuse in the home; mental illness in a parent or a sibling; neglect; emotional, physical or sexual abuse; having a parent in jail; or growing up alongside domestic violence, nearly 75% of us experience adversity by the age of 20. But these experiences are often kept secret, as are our courageous battles to overcome them. Drawing on nearly two decades of work with clients and students, Jay tells the tale of ordinary people made extraordinary by these all-too-common experiences, everyday superheroes who have made a life out of dodging bullets and leaping over obstacles, even as they hide in plain sight as doctors, artists, entrepreneurs, lawyers, parents, activists, teachers, students and readers. She gives a voice to the supernormals among us as they reveal not only "How do they do it?" but also "How does it feel?"" - From book jacket.