“Good stuff, although I’d recommend more to people interested in writing than I would people who read more casually. Lots of care is taken to talk about the origins and development of the essays, which is interesting if you’re into that kind of stuff.
Maybe the most interesting essay tackles the idea of “writer as parasite.” Basically, the writer can’t help but take real life drama, heartache, and so on and turn it into words on a page, which eventually return money. I guess I said the essay “tackles” the idea, but maybe there’s a better word. “Tackles” makes it sound like the essay manages to bring the idea down somehow. But it definitely doesn’t.”