Back to my promise to share some thoughts on what it’s like to actually write a book. I started with Philip Roth and moved on to Leslie Jamison. Now, here’s a quote from Zadie Smith, the author of Swing Time, that I hope will bring a smile to your face: “I read a lot of essays and articles from journals. It stops me from feeling stupid. Writing novels can make you very stupid—just writing about something that doesn’t exist for three or four years.” But, for some reason, we just keep on, keeping on!