My Poor Elephant

What sends men to writing, making them not be mechanics or doctors? In these essays Fred Chappell, Madison Smartt Bell, and others confront a three-fold tension: the deep urge to write, the romantic fantasy to be a writer, and the bottom-line need to earn money. Eve Shelnutt says They speak with a rare humility and gratitude about the 'clumsy walk' that writing is. 27 photographs.