Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process

Asking writers to write about writing is a fraught proposition (is there anything new left to say?), but editor Fassler (Night Music) includes many gems among this anthology’s 46 entries. Using the approach that he developed for the Atlantic’s online series “By Heart,” where some of these pieces were first published, Fassler asks each writer to find a life-changing passage of literature and make a case for why it matters. The collection’s best essays soar; they include Mary Gaitskill on a scene from Anna Karenina, Tom Perrotta on Our Town’s sense of ordinariness, and Ayana Mathis on James Baldwin and race. Stephen King, as always, is masterful on writing’s nuts and bolts, in this case writing about a novel’s opening sentence. The strongest essays focus on close readings of texts. Weaker essays become about the author and meander into clichés, such as that writing takes courage or that writers must trust themselves. The book would have benefited from brief author bios: not every writer is a household name. Nevertheless, the essays’ variety and the heart and intelligence evident in many of them add up to a valuable book, one that leads readers back to treasured classics and forward to the works of these contemporary authors. Agent: Ellen Levine, Trident Media Group. (Sept.)