Tom Barbash

Tom is articulate and well read. He has good command of the subject matter, although he does have a tendency to lean towards the conventional styles in fiction. This is fine though, even if you are into other styles- postmodern, science fiction, what-have-you, because the traditional story or novel has a structure basis that everyone needs to learn before experimenting with that structure. The anthology he used, The Scribner Anthology of Cont. Fiction, was by FAR the best I have read in years. I learned a great deal in Tom's class by analyzing the stories each week, and doing the projects- a line by line interpretation of a story (tedious but incredibly illuminating!), and writing your own story. One word of caution- Tom is a great guy, but can be somewhat flakey. He can forget things and be late to office hours, so if you have no patience, bear that in mind. But if you want to really learn how fiction is put together so you can do it in your own work, I highly recommend Barbash!

Tom offered a ton of practical advice in regards to crafting good fiction, and his selection of readings represented an array of contemporary authors to illustrate his concept of good fiction. His class structure was loose, but he assigned a serious midterm and final. Sometimes he speaks in a low voice, making his lectures hard to hear, and he isn't that prompt about returning materials, but he more than makes up for that with his expertise and the fact he's a nice guy.