Seven Essays:

1) On Living in the Dark World
2) A Literary Hit Man
3) Fly Fishing and Writing
4) Lessons on the Road to Becoming a Writer
5) Memory, History and Words
6) A Concerto of Loved Books
7) Music and Writing

I do not think of myself as a natural essayist.

George Orwell, he was an essayist. If unfamiliar with ‘Shooting an Elephant’ or ‘Such, Such Were the Joys…’ those two alone should open a door to a profound word craftsmanship that has few equals. But I have other favorites, as well. Thomas McGuane’s essays on fly fishing and life, which can be found in ‘The Longest Silence.’ Mark Slouka, who wrote (among many others) ‘Arrow and Wound’ which I have always considered a near perfect blending of memoir and literary criticism. And the late Paul Fussell, whose ‘Thank God for the Atomic Bomb’ is spot-on and thought provoking. I admire all his work and recommend ‘The Boy Scout’s Handbook’ and ‘Bad’ in addition to his award-winning ‘The Great War and Modern Memory.’ My friend Sven Birkerts, too, is a skilled essayist. ‘The Gutenberg Elegies’ is his best-known work – but he has many other collections as well.

Essays are an intriguing art form. Lurking within the prose are elements of poetry, politics, memoir and history. The very best of this genre are intensely personal, while at the same time make some over-arching point about life in general. This takes considerable thought
and skill. The best essays read seamlessly and easily, belying how intricate a form they belong to. The seven I have included in my website touch on how I became a writer, and some of the techniques and thought processes that I’ve engaged in to create my stories. None of them are as sophisticated as ‘Shooting an Elephant’ but layered into the tales there might be a lesson or two that has some value for readers, students and people who aspire to writing fiction. Of course, I don’t know for certain. Maybe.

Possibly.

At least, I very much hope so…