Writers on Writing, Volume II More Collected Essays from The New York Times [Paperback]

Glimpses into writers and the circumstances that shape them . . . Valuable gleanings. -Kirkus Reviews

In a second volume of original essays drawn from the long-runningNew York Timescolumn,Writers on Writingbrings together another group of contemporary literature's finest voices to muse on the challenges and gifts of language and creativity.
The pieces range from taciturn, hilarious advice for aspiring writers to thoughtful, soul-wrenching reflections on writing in the midst of national tragedy. William Kennedy talks about the intersecting lives of real and imagined Albany politics; Susan Isaacs reveals her nostalgia for a long-retired protagonist; and Elmore Leonard offers pithy rules for letting the writing, and not the writer, take charge. With contributions from Diane Ackerman, Margaret Atwood, Frank Conroy, Mary Karr, Patrick McGrath, Arthur Miller, Amy Tan, and Edmund White,Writers on Writing,Volume II offers an uncommon and revealing view of the writer's world.

Jane Smileyis the author of ten works of fiction, includingGood Faith; Horse Heaven; A Thousand Acres, for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize; andMoo. She lives in northern California.