Synopsis
This book includes over 50 essays, and the astounding variety and excellence of the group make for a remarkably complete statement on the difficulty, self-loathing, humor, courage, and inspiration involved with the creative process.
Such writers as John Fowles, John Updike, Margaret Atwood, James A. Michener, Susan Sontag, Darryl Pinckney, Alice Hoffman, Roy Blount Jr., Joyce Carol Oates and Arthur Miller cheerfully and skillfully reveal themselves, along with many others, using Borges' playful construct with surprisingly distinctive results.
In addition, the authors have accompanied their pieces with self-portraits, which range from cartoonist Ed Koren's zany figures to Helen Vendler's carefully traced hand, and include a variety of possibilities in between. It is rare that readers are given such privileged information (however tongue-in-cheek) about the identities of their favorite authors - still rarer to meet their personas in the same place.
Reviews
After seeing a new translation of Jorge Luis Borges's mini-essay "Borges and I" (included here), Halpern (Selected Poems) asked numerous writers to muse briefly on "the fictional persona 'behind the scenes,'" the alter(ed) ego that accompanies creation. Fifty-six notables, from Diane Ackerman to Helen Vendler-here presented alphabetically-replied, making a browse-worthy book for literary fans. Some are playful: Edward Gorey anagrams his name into those of characters including Ogdred Weary. Others, such as Cecil Brown, posit earthier personas: "He is the proper Negro who is ashamed of me, the nigger." And still others are reflective: Susan Sontag recalls her longtime disavowal of her work and finally comes to feel that "the writer is me: not my double" and thus she is "both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster." Each contributor also submitted a self-portrait; some of these whimsical drawings are extremely clever.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Editor, author, and teacher Halpern was struck by Borges's piece "Borges and I," which discusses the public author vs. the private one. So he asked some 50 well-known authors-such as Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, William Gass, Czeslaw Milosz, James Michener, Joyce Carol Oates, and Cynthia Ozick-to write pieces on the same idea. The result is a coffee-table book for literary aficionados and scholars. The essays are mostly one- to two-page snapshots and vary widely as to approach. Some are touching, others delightfully silly. Rosellen Brown speaks of how she is "only eager to close the door and be alone with my book," while Edward Gorey has fun with pseu-donyms. Appropriate for comprehensive or specialized literature collections.
Nancy P. Shires, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, N.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
