This is a short, quick, and easy read.
Some Sample Anecdotes:
- Norman Mailer was an activist, among his many other activities. During the Cold War, he was arrested in New York for civil disobedience when he appeared with 1,000 other citizens to protest a law requiring people to go to fallout shelters whenever an air raid drill was held. When the air raid drill siren sounded, many of the protesters unfurled umbrellas that bore the legend "Portable Fallout Shelter." Mr. Mailer was also a parent. At the Elliott Bay Bookstore, he once did a reading. Afterward, he signed many books. In line with a parent was a boy. Mr. Mailer talked to the boy and asked him if he could do something for him. The boy replied, "You could help me with my term paper." Mr. Mailer laughed, then said, "Oh, no, my son already asked me, and I told him no, too."
- Kingsley Amis enjoyed drinking alcohol a lot, and he drank a lot of alcohol. He even wrote three books about alcohol: On Drink, Everyday Drinking, and How's Your Glass? He once attended a stand-up (not dinner) party at which he was offered his choice of red wine or white wine. However, he explained that drinking wine without eating food upset his stomach, but that he would enjoy spirits. Unfortunately, his host said, "Sorry to hear that. I'm afraid there's nothing else in the house." Mr. Amis says, "My stomach took five minutes to change its mind."
- Maya Angelou needs a place where she can create for long stretches of time without interruption. When she is away from home, sometimes for long periods of time, she will rent a hotel room to use as a writing space. She tells the hotel management not to interrupt her by having someone change the sheets, as she won't be using them because she will be sleeping elsewhere. At 5:30 a.m. she enters the room and works until early afternoon. Sometimes, she will write after dinner until late at night. During one prolonged stint of creativity, the hotel management slipped this note under her door: "Ms. Angelou, please let us get in there and change the sheets. We think they are moldy." She ignored the note.
- Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left his body almost totally incapacitated although his mind was fine. He was able to control only his left eye, but by blinking he dictated a book to freelance book editor Claude Mendibil, who recited to him the letters of the French alphabet by their frequency of use. When she pronounced the correct letter, Mr. Bauby blinked his left eye. With practice, she was able to guess the word he wanted after learning the first few letters. The title of the book he dictated, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, refers to his life. His mind - the butterfly - was still active, but it was trapped in a body that no longer functioned properly - the diving bell. The book became a best seller, and it was made into a critically acclaimed movie with the same title. The process by which the book was dictated could have been disheartening, but Ms. Mendibil says that she cried only once. It happened when he was dictating a passage about his two young children, Céleste and Théophile. Ms. Mendibil says, "I have a child, and I suddenly realized what it would be to be next to her and not be able to take her in my arms. The tears rose, and I had to go outside for five minutes.". When she returned, Mr. Bauby used eye blinks to tell her, "You look beautiful when you cry."
