A rare occasion to experience privileged information (however tongue-in-cheek) about the identities of their favourite authors in the same place. After seeing a new translation of Jorge Luis Borges' mini-essay "Borges and I" (included here), Halpern asked numerous writers to muse briefly on 'the fictional persona 'behind the scenes", the alter(ed) ego that accompanies creation. He asked some 50 well-known authors - such as Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, William Gass, Czeslaw Milosz, James Michener, Joyce Carol Oates, and Cynthia Ozick - to write pieces on this idea. The essays are mostly one- to two-page snapshots and vary widely as to approach. Some are touching, others delightfully silly. Edward Gorey anagrams his name into those of characters including Ogdred Weary. Others, such as Cecil Brown, posit earthier personas: 'He is the proper Negro who is ashamed of me, the nigger'. And still others are reflective: Susan Sontag recalls her longtime disavowal of her work and finally comes to feel that 'the writer is me: not my double' and thus she is 'both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster'.

Twenty-two acclaimed writers celebrate the art of eating

Wendell Berry - Colette - William Corbett - Michael Dorris - Alexandre Dumas - M. F .K. Fisher - Michael Frank - Betty Fussell - Evan Jones - Judith B. Jones - Barbara Kafka - Madeline Kamman - Charles Lamb - Rose Macaulay - Henry Matthews - Joyce Carol Oates - Francine Prose - Paul Schmidt - James Seay - Charles Simic - Edward Steinberg - Alice Waters

There is more to be gained from our daily bread than mere sustenance. Curiosity, romance, ritual, and insight can be as much a part of a meal as any of its edible ingredients. In this delectable collection of essays on fine food and drink, twenty-two renowned writers capture the gestures, the celebrations, and the moments in which food, wine, and the act of eating transcend their initial purposes to become something far greater. A window into the eating lives of a handful of our finest literary artists, Not for Bread Alone is a tasty and most satisfying delight--a true culinary classic.