Table of Contents: From Breakfast With Anita Diamant to Dessert With James Patterson - a Generous Helping of Recipes, Writings and Insights From Today's Bestselling Authors Read Online Free Page B

finely chopped onion
    F OR THE GARNISH
    3 large hard-cooked eggs, sliced into rings
    Dried parsley flakes, for sprinkling
    Paprika, for sprinkling
    1 Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to boil over high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of salt, reduce heat to medium, and boil gently for 4–5 minutes, or until potato cubes are just tender. (Check cubes often while cooking by fishing one out and tasting it. As soon as they're tender enough to bite through easily, drain them. The potatoes will continue cooking a bit after being drained, so it's better to err on the side of too firm than risk mushy potatoes.) Drain potatoes, and pour into a large bowl.
    2 Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, remaining teaspoon of salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in a separate bowl. Pour on the warm potatoes, and combine gently with a wooden spoon. Add the diced eggs and onion, and stir to combine. Chill.
    3 When ready to serve, arrange the egg rings on top of the salad, and sprinkle with parsley and paprika.

Ethan Canin

    Fred Gerr
    SELECTED WOEKS
    America, America (2008)
    Carry Me Across the Water (2001)
    For Kings and Planets (1998)
    The Palace Thief (1993)
    Blue River (1991)
    Inspiration Two things inspire me as a writer. The first is reading. Not just any book, but a book that makes me read it, and only one in ten books makes me read it. The second is the great fear of not being productive as a human being. I like to make things, work in the garden, cut firewood, or build furniture. The fear of not producing something is a fear of life passing by. I should add that it feels very good to be devoted to something, as well. When you're writing a book, you are utterly devoted to it.
    Like many writers and artists, I go from ecstasies to despondencies, and the trick to making a career of writing is to make more shallow the depths of the despondencies and, in some ways, to level out the heights of the ecstasies.
    Readers Should Know I spent a number of years trying to figure out what I find inspiring. I've traveled, lived in the jungle, hitchhiked, put myself in dangerous situations, gambled. But after all that, I've discovered that I write best sitting in my office looking out over a familiar view: a shed in my backyard and some chickens plucking at the grass.
    Readers Frequently Ask Who is the guy at the beginning of America, America at the funeral with the cane?
    That question has a very specific answer: a character who is identifiable later by that same cane.
    People always ask, too, whether America, America is based on Ted Kennedy. The plot of the novel obviously derives from certain incidents in Kennedy's life, but the character of the senator was more deeply inspired by Lyndon Johnson, by his public idealism set against his personal ruthlessness.
    People wonder what impact teaching has on my writing. I'm lucky because I teach at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and I have fabulous students. Their writing moves and goads and inspires me. To teach good students is a deep delight.
    People also ask about my being a doctor and wonder whether I'm ever going to write a medical novel. My strong belief is that if you don't invent everything, you can't invent anything. A novel about medicine would be the last book I'd write.
    Influences on My Writing I can't remember the details of all the books I've loved and been inspired by, only the emotion I had when reading them. I love funny books but I remember sad ones.
    The Stories of John Cheever . This is the book that first made me want to be a writer.
    The Deptford Trilogy , by Robertson Davies. The scope of imagination, both outward and inward, stuns me. One novel in the trilogy, for example, is about the life of circus performers, while another is the transcript of a Jungian analysis.
    Open Secrets , by Alice Munro. This book really expanded my idea of the short story.
    Tell Me A Riddle , by Tillie Olsen. This is not an ornate book, but it certainly is a searing