Late Work

"Questioning her assumptions (and ours as well), this vastly well-read author takes us through the slings and arrows of the literary life, arriving at a place of wisdom and sanity."--Phillip Lopate, author of To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction

"Joan Frank's assessment of lateness as a conduit of possibility--by which, reading and writing, we record the subtle and continuous miracle of being alive--makes this a wise and moving book."--Debra Monroe, author of My Unsentimental Education

"Late Work gets to the heart of how a mature writer makes work that matters. At once wry, generous, and brutally honest, it is an essential guide for serious writers and readers of all ages."--Yang Huang, author of My Good Son: A Novel

"The work of the writer, late and soon, is life itself . . . it's that simple, that difficult. Through analogy and example, Joan Frank's essays take us with her into a dimming world: to look, to feel, to cherish and forgive. This is a rich, real collection."--Carol Sklenicka, author of Alice Adams: Portrait of a Writer

"Late Work is one of the best books on writing and the writing life I have ever read. It contains wonderful pages about the covenant between writer and reader along with advice for writers on how to use one's own 'skinlessness' as a creative tool. It is above all a book about art and the role, both tempering and freeing, that aging plays in an artist's life and work."--Joel Agee, author of The Stone World