Here is a fascinating and enlightening book for fiction readers and writers alike. Written by some of our most powerful contemporary authors, the twelve stories gathered here were selected as striking examples of one of the six elements of craft: character, plot, theme, structure, voice, and setting. In interviews that center on the aspect of craft each story exemplifies, the authors discuss their sources of inspiration and the challenges they faced. Sandra Cisneros, Kim Edwards, George Garrett, Ellen Gilchrist, Gail Godwin, Allan Gurganus, Charles Johnson, Walter Kirn, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ursula K. Le Guin, Elizabeth Tallent, and Tobias Wolff.

About the Editor:

Paul Mandelbaum is the author of two novels, Garrett in Wedlock and Adriane on the Edge, and editor of the anthology First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors. He teaches at Emerson College’s Los Angeles Center and in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.