Jill Krementz

Seeing where authors create is a real treat; how different each of them are, and how different the spaces that help nurture the narratives they create. The photography is exquisite, but the real treat is to hear each of them describe why and how they've come to their spaces, and how they fit into them. There's a fair bit about the writing life and creativity in each essay. It's a quick read, and one that I'll come back to again, I'm sure.

Seek and Find for readers

2025/08/15
While asking GR author, Teresa Tumminello Brader (I'm currently reading her collection of short stories, Secret Keepers) about her workspace and process today, I recalled this collection of Jill Krementz' photographs of writers.

In one of my decluttering episodes of winnowing books, I donated this one. I wish I hadn't done that! Luckily, Open Library has a copy. Although the scan cuts off the left center and right center where the pages meet, it's still show more lovely, like a kid's Seek and Find adventure book.

I found:
⚫a bottle of Perrier next to an American Heritage Dictionary
⚫very early laptops--they look so clunky, so strange
⚫variety of electric typewriters--they don't look strange
⚫a glass of whiskey with ice in it (surprised?)
⚫a matchbook, an ashtray
⚫two standing desks
⚫a blackboard with the writer's notes written on it in chalk
⚫hundreds of pens and pencils
⚫a cat, a dog
⚫a pair of baby twins drinking milk bottles while lying on the floor

I remember when I owned this book, trying to decern each item, its use, its memory to the writer. Seems also as if every room in the house was used by one writer or another. Some work spaces were cluttered (Kurt Vonnegut), some were minimalistically austere (E.B. White).

I love the short texts included, too, writers writing about the nuts and bolts. Some wrote best in the morning (Katherine Anne Porter), some find later in the day best (4pm to 7pm after a walk, P.G. Wodehouse), and others feel more desperate, lucky if they write a page in a day (Edmund White). Some found writing is "hell" (William Styron) and others likened it to slow carving in marble to chip away at the beauty of a "pigeon" within (Archibald McLeish).

As you can see, there are all manner of techniques, some even regimented, dispelling the idea of twiddling a pencil waiting for the Muse to arrive. Although, some have no writing habits and often do just that, wasting away the day doodling, while waiting (Joyce Carol Oates.)

Apparently there is no magic formula, only words strung together one at a time to create fairy lights for the minds of loving readers.

I will find a copy of this book again, put it in my favorite shelf (my "granite" shelf I call it, next to my reading chair) and one day while away the time from 4pm to 7pm, finding more seek and finds. show less

In these wonderfully straightforward accounts of what it means to children to be adopted, nineteen boys and girls, from eight to sixteen years old—and from every social background—confide their feelings about this crucial fact of their lives. It is deeply affecting to listen to these children as they reveal their questions, frustrations, difficulties, and joys with an honesty that is immediate, convincing, and stirring. Their generosity will provide solace and strength for thousands of show more other children who share with them the experience of being adopted—and who will be helped to understand that their own emotions are normal and appropriate. show less

recommended for: kids who have lost a parent

My mother died when I was 11 1/2 and this is one book, of many, I wish had been available. Compiled by a photojournalist who’s written many similar books, this one has stories of children from about ages 5-16 who have lost a parent to death. The kids basically tell their own stories and the author took their photos. Tries to be comprehensive: many ages of the kids and many reasons for the deaths of the parents, but I would have appreciated even show more more diversity and many more kids’ stories. Could be a helpful book for many children.

I changed the star ratings for all the "How It Feels" books from 4 to 5 because I find that I'm constantly recommending them and also because I think they're perfect for inspiring kids to tell their own stories. show less