F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby occupies a preeminent place in American letters. Scholars have argued that Jay Gatsby is, in fact, the embodiment of American culture and social aspiration. Though The Great Gatsby has been studied in detail since its publication, both readers and scholars have continued to speculate about Fitzgerald's sources of inspiration. The essays in F. Scott Fitzgerald at Work examine fresh facts that illuminate the experiences...

Following Djuna reads contemporary novelists in the tradition of Djuna Barnes, arguing for the importance of women's fiction in understanding women's erotics - emotional and sexual exchanges between women. Barnes's Nightwood, with its experimental form and passionate language, has made its mark on contemporary writers, and Carolyn Allen argues that Harris, Winterson, and Brown continue Barnes's explorations of obsession, loss, excess, and power between...

Laing examines the link between creativity and alcohol through the work and lives of six of America's finest writers.

With warm, lively, often humorous anecdotes, advice, and lessons, this unique approach to creative writing as a path to healing the self shows how to reverse the damaging effects done to writers in school, where red pens disciplined grammar and taught them to mistrust their natural ability as storytellers.