First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors

Most kid write stories. A few of them grow up to be successful authors. Before Stephen King created Carrie , he created Jhonathan, at age nine. And before there was Rabbit Angstrom, there was Manuel Citarro, detective in John Updike’s hard-boiled mystery, written at fourteen. Before Jurassic Park , there was young Michael Crichton’s story about the mysteriously wounded man lying unattended in the street. Editor Paul Mandelbaum persuaded our most popular American authors to share their childhood writings and their treasured photographs. What he’s gathered is a fascinating, delightful collection of writing and early snapshots that reveal young minds at work, wrestling with early versions of ideas that were to take hold of their writings in later years. Of course, the young Madeline L’Engle would wonder about space and the meaning of eternity. Of course, Margaret Atwood would question conventional female behavior, arguing for the right to smoke cigars. First Words is an inspiration to budding writers and enthusiastic teachers, and a revelation for readers everywhere. This revised and condensed edition includes the following Margaret Atwood Roy Blount, Jr. Paul Bowles Pat Conroy Michael Crichton Rita Dove Clyde Edgerton Gail Godwin Allan Gurganus Charles Johnson Stephen King Maxine Hong Kingston Ursula LeGuin Madeleine L’Engle Jill McCorkle Norman Mailer Joyce Carol Oates William Styron Amy Tan John Updike Gore Vidal Tobias Wolff