Getting Published: The Writer in the Combat Zone

Bernstein, author of The Official Guide to Wine Snobbery, constructs his book as, perhaps, he conducts the writing seminars he has taught in New York City for some 10 years. First he shocks his student/reader by observing that the ""creative combat zone is as tense and frustrating as anything found in the business community . . . the shrapnel is flying.'' Then he soothes with ongoing jollying: neophyte writers mustn't become discouraged about inconsistency in the quality of the work they produce; they might, rather than attempt the great American novel, write a how-to piece``it's the easiest article to write.'' Itself more a how-to-write manual than a publishing guideexcept for Bernstein's silly theory of the probabilities of connecting in the marketplacethis merely repeats the standard fare of its type. About the only facet neglected is advice on pencil sharpening. (December 12)