Who's Writing This?

Editor Daniel Halpern asks numerous writers to muse briefly on “the fictional persona ‘behind the scenes,’” the alter ego that accompanies creation. Fifty-five well-known authors—such as Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, William Gass, Czeslaw Milosz, James Michener, Joyce Carol Oates, and Cynthia Ozick—contributed their interpretations of this idea, along with a whimsical self-portrait. The essays are mostly one- to two-page snapshots and vary widely as to approach. Edward Gorey cleverly anagrams his name into those of characters, such as Ogdred Weary. 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.”