THE WRITING LIFE: A Collection of...

THE WRITING LIFE: A Collection of Essays and Interviews edited by Neil Baldwin & Diane Osen (Random House: $15.; 243 pp., paperback original). Eighteen National Book Award winners and nominees discuss various aspects of their craft in this collection. John Updike lists the writers who influenced his approach to the novel; E. Annie Proulx recounts being stuck on a train from hell during an ill-fated book tour. Thomas Friedman recalls how assignments in Beirut affected his ideas about reporting, and Gail Godwin describes the rituals that various writers perform as they begin the task of creation. Proceeds from this lively collection go to the National Book Foundation.