She certainly makes essays look easy ... Some delightful personal pieces ... Some essays do work better than others; there are forewords to history books that are less enjoyable without access to the book in question, for instance ... They are a delicious peek behind the scenes of a great writer at work — or at play.
Her fourth collection contains 30 penetrating, nimble, witty, and affecting pieces, most from the past half-dozen years ... A treasury of candid, thoughtful, caring, and exhilarating inquires.
