interviews across time and space

In this collection of ten interviews done in cyberspace, international writers Pico lyer, Pankaj Mishra, Amitava Kumar, Samrat Upadhyay and others talk about how they became writers, the changing nature of travel writing, craft, editing and much more. The questions are searching and the answers crisp, insightful and witty, which make this slim volume an entertaining read. A must, particularly for those starting out as writers and editors, and students of literature. Fiction is more difficult, and therefore more attractive and interesting to me. Travel-writing--or any kind of non-fiction—is a much more cerebral activity, which can to some extent be planned and controlled, and can move along expected lines; fiction is about surrender, and not being able to bribe the Muse to make house-calls, or force inspiration to come, which makes it at once more frustrating and more magical. It's like the difference between walking around the block and completing a somersault in mid-air while holding a torch of flame in both hands.