The Knowledge: A Too Close To True Novel

In his blog on December 7, Seth Godin said this:“The Knowledge, Steve Pressfield's new book, is put together like a Swiss watch. Every single word, every scene... it's a master class in what it means to get out of your own way and write a book that works. I am walking around the house, unable to put it down.”I purchased the book on Seth Godin’s recommendation, to see what it means for a book to be put together like a Swiss watch, to be a book that works. And this one is, and does. On three levels:At the first level it is a noir novel, set in the dirty and dangerous New York City of the 1970s. The main character drives a late-shift taxi cab, and is sometimes referred to as “Stretch.” (We find out in the second-half of the book that his real name is “Steve.” And he is probably just as tall as … well … Steve Pressfield. )So the second level of the book involves the realization: “Oh, this book is probably rather autobiographical! And the main character is Steve Pressfield!” Well, there are many parallels. The main character has written two novels that did not succeed, like Steve Pressfield did. He is working on a third one that, if he can finish it, has great promise. Like Steve Pressfield, when he was finishing “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” The main character goes to Hollywood in the end. Like Steve Pressfield. Etc., etc., and so forth.The third level of the book involves a traditional Pressfield theme: “The Resistance” and how it can be met and mastered.Back to Seth Godin, who said: “The resistance is the voice in the back of our head telling us to back off, be careful, go slow, compromise. The resistance is writer's block and putting jitters and every project that ever shipped late because people couldn't stay on the same page long enough to get something out the door. “The resistance grows in strength as we get closer to shipping, as we get closer to an insight, as we get closer to the truth of what we really want… “On the other hand, artists and leaders seek out that feeling. They push themselves to the edge, to the place where the fear lives. By feeling it, by exposing themselves to the resistance, they become more alive and do work that they're most proud of. “The fear doesn't care, either way. The choice is to spend our time avoiding that fear or embracing it.”So in this new novel, *The Knowledge*, the main character and his best friend in England, decide together that the way to conquer The Resistance is, of all things, to obtain “The Knowledge,” meaning knowledge about how the world really works and how to navigate in and through it, and get where you wish to go, frictionlessly and with ease. Like a driver of an English black taxi, who must pass a test of whether he knows all of the streets of London, to use to get from a beginning point to an ending point in the city. (Which it turns out, English taxi drivers call “The Knowledge.” )The two friends plan out artistically how to inform the public of these concepts, and they create a character who will explain it all in a literary or musical work. (One begins here to wonder: “Oh … and is that fictional character who is teaching this to the world, the fictional character called 'Stretch' or 'Steve' in the fictional book called “The Knowledge” … the book I am holding right now in my own hands … ?? )Whether reading the book at the level of the noir novel and following the action through the grit of the city; or reading it at the second level and learning more about how the real-life Steve Pressfield (probably, or almost) had experiences just like those of the main character; or reading it at the third level and examining the characters in their metaphorical roles and as exemplars of how to gain “the knowledge” that will allow the character to overcome “the resistance”, we can say this:The book is indeed put together more or less like a Swiss watch, and it does work. It is not perfect, but it captures the reader’s attention on the first page, and always beckons the reader back to pick up the reading again and see what happened next.The chapters are short, in traditional Steven Pressfield style. The dialog is direct and spare. The characters are developed well enough (although they could have been developed further if the length of the book had been made longer).The number of “aside” comments, that do not necessarily move the action along but are quite interesting to know, is perhaps greater than the number of sentences that purely move the action forward. And there are insights and historical facts nested within insights and historical facts. The book is quite simply rich with these sorts of brief byways, and it is valuable because of this.If there is a criticism I would make, it is this: As a reader, I wanted to know more than just what was happening in the outer landscape of the characters. I wanted to know more of what was happening in their inner landscape, how they were changing inside, in response to the actions they were being subjected to or the choices that they were choosing to make. How were they now different people because of all this that happened?It has been said that literature is character-driven, while mass market is plot-driven. Certainly the noir novel is plot-driven, although it is highly enriched by the masterful aside comments. And we can infer how the characters have changed, or at least see how our perception of them changes as the book unfolds. But if I were given a choice, I would like to have had a closer sense of what the main character was feeling, so that I could empathically feel it along with him, instead of being relegated to needing to infer it from the action. But that would be a personal preference.My recommendation: Buy this book and read it. See if you give it five stars as well. You may not, if you just read the noir novel and were not expecting it to be noir. You might then say something like, “WTF did I just read?!” But buy it and see for yourself.

I’m a huge fan of Pressfield’s work, including most of the novels and The War of Art—everyone in my family has a copy. This book meant a lot to me since I was driving a cab in The City at the same time, gigging as a musician, and writing and studying music while trying to sort out my early-twenties love life. I remember so many of the spots he describes here, many long gone or completely changed, like the people I knew them by.I also recognize some of the well paced action scenes from Thermopylae, Thucydides, and the Western Desert in some of the dicier events of The Knowledge. The characters who influenced the barely-named narrator here to take his life , his work, and himself more seriously may be “too close to real” or writerly composites; it matters little. This book is a compelling and rewarding read.

As a yarn, the story is threadbare. I kept reading, though, expecting the Pressfield magic to present itself, and when it didn't, I found myself skimming the final chapters of the book. Not sure why he subtitles the book "A Too Close To True Novel." If you follow Pressfield, you'll recognize certain autobiographic details - like the fact that he drove a cab in NYC while struggling to write a novel, etc. But then the story's action, even if billed as straight fiction, is beyond plausibility outside of Simpson's episode. For example, the main character (Stretch, a/k/a Steven) is looking to identify the true name of a known gangster known as The Russian. He remembers that when he was surveilling the Russian two weeks prior, the Russian paid for a dinner with a credit card. So he goes to that gangster's neighborhood, walks into a crowded restaurant, and gets the restaurant's owner to produce a credit card receipt with the gangster's full name. And all the Pressfield character had to do is buy a couple of kabobs in exchange for the info. Give me a break.Sorry, Pressfield fans. This book reads like a crappy first draft, or the cobbling together of several crappy first drafts. Pass on this one.

I came for "The War of Art," but stayed for "The Knowledge." I've been immersing myself in all things Pressfield of late, including a few podcast interviews, and what can I say? He's a stand-up guy! I thought I'd give one of his fictional books a try, and If his goal was to tell a good tale and keep you on the edge of your seat, I'd say he nailed it. The Knowledge is a rollicking mid-70s Big Apple adventure, complete with salty Jewish gangsters, yellow cab car chases, punk band escapades in Harlem, and the honesty and sweetness of navigating his many female and one feline relationship. And come on, could a cat have any cuter backstory than the story of "Teaspoon?" I just finished it and I'm sad the story is finished! Thanks for a solid novel Steven. And thanks for all the help you've given all us struggling artists with your instructions on meeting "Resistance."

Page turner! I'm a Steven Pressfield fan, starting with his historical novels - Gates of Fire, The Afghan Campaign, et al - and his works on writing: The War of Art and many others. The Knowledge is another great read. Think NYC, think complicated plot, think believable and likeable and crazy characters from all over, think not so bad bad guys and not so good good guys, think.... Nah! stop thinking! Just read it. Great fun. Even the author photo fits.

My only criticism is that it's almost too good. It's got all the ingredients a good book should have in all the right places with all the right beats and at just the right times. Once it really gets warmed up, it almost starts to telegraph its punches. Still a great read, especially if you drive a taxi and love mischief like I certainly do.

This fictionalized version of the author's real-life story from the 1970s, makes it difficult for authors to complain about "doing the work." Pressfield's alter-ego chases women and the Muse, while fighting crime and Resistance! Great read!

I bought this book because I will, and do, read anything Steven Pressfield writes. If you're attempting to do anything hard and creative in the world, he ought to be your muse, and the revealed wisdom of his dropped-from-Olympus book The War of Art ought to be on your bedtable at all times, propped wide open. If you read or write military fiction, particularly the futuristic kind, everything you read or write ought to be trying to live up to his novel The Profession, perhaps the best book of its kind, albeit inevitably failing. With his brand new novel, The Knowledge, Pressfield has departed - writing a bildungsroman, a roman a clef, and an artist's coming of age story. He has gone deep, very deep indeed, mining the gold of his remarkable life, and the result is rich vein, spun into finely wrought gilded arches, spans, and passageways. It's a true classic novel's novel, elegant and tight, beautifully paced and balanced, perfectly itself and pellucid and fearless and enveloping. I'm still a hundred pages from the end and I had to stop to write this review. I'm so possessed by this story and its voice that I'm borrowing it, shamelessly, now. Pressfield is more than a national treasure, he is a blessing to art - and all its practitioners and consumers - itself. _Update_: Read the last 100 pages. This book is suffused with truth. Despite that it's fiction - because it's fiction - it's all true.

Brilliant. Worth buying for his description of the English alone.

I liked the realism of the characters and the portrayal of NYC at that time not long ago.And it’s an engaging story of entertaining twists and turns.

Disappointing read from a good writer whose other books I highly recommend and enjoyed thoroughly. This one fell flat, in my opinion.

Loved learning about Steven's life as an aspiring writer in NY. Even if it's somewhat fiction, I'm guessing a bunch is true ;)