Survey Our Literary Landscape From the Open Window of Glimmer TrainMany writing books offer instruction and inspiration, but never before has one pulled back the curtain and laid bare before you the joys, frustrations, struggles, and achievements of the literary life–as experienced by more than one hundred accomplished writers. In excerpts from interviews conducted over a sixteen-year period and preserved by the editors of the highly respected literary quarterly Glimmer Train Stories and its supplement Writers Ask, contemporary writers who rarely discuss their craft present you with eye-opening techniques, diverse perspectives, and genuine encouragement–the kind of wisdom earned only from years at the writing desk.Julia Alvarez, Edwidge Danticat, Robert Olen Butler, Sandra Cisneros, Andre Dubus, Ernest Gaines, Jamaica Kincaid, Antonya Nelson, Tim O"Brien, Ann Patchett, Annie Proulx, Tobias WolffThe voices of these authors and many others resonate from the pages–sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, but always illuminating. A thorough treatment of craft and accessibility to engaging authors make Building Blocks–the first volume in this exquisite new series–the perfect guidebook for your writing life.