how-to manuals in the form of writers’nnotebooks — famously those of HenrynJames, Anton Chekhov, and ThomasnWolfe—useful for obtaining glimpsesninto the difficult process of creation fornanyone who would take the craft ofnwriting seriously.nBut there are other difficulties as wellnin writing, hardships many steps removednfrom finding a voice and getting subjectsnand verbs to agree. Among them are tryingnto meet deadlines when the phone isnringing off the hook and the toddlers arenclamoring for lunch, of remaining inspirednwhile one’s bank account languishes fornwant of long-promised checks. Few writersnhave treated such matters, for reasonsnan anthropologist might brand “taboondeformation”—write about troublesnand troubles will descend on your head.nJohn Jerome’s The Writing Trade bravesnsuch a fate, and offers a deeply considerednlook, at once disquieting and inspirational,ninto the quotidian life of anworking writer.nJerome is an accomplished author of,namong other titles, Stone Work, Truck,nand On Mountains (the last two havingncollapsed on the present book’s jacketncopy into Truck on Mountains by a carelessnpublicist). He admits at the very startnhis nagging fear of being branded a formulanauthor by virtue of his having writtennseveral how-to books on skiing andnother outdoorsy activities; books, he says,n”that have ranged from marginally successfulnto downright futile.” He is self-nBread and Circuses: The Politics ofnWelfare—February 1992—Allan Carlsonnon how federal housing policies havencontributed to the breakup of the family,nWilliam Murchison on the doctor and thenstate, and Christina F. Jeffrey.on SocialnSecurity as family policy. Plus BarbaranMcCarthy on welfare and illegalnimmigration, and Jeffrey Tucker onnHousing and Urban Development.nTitlenBREAD AND CIRCUSESnFACES OF EVEnTHE SPANISH AMERICASneffacing, perhaps to a fault:nI am a competent but essentiallyninvisible writer, proof that one cannearn a living from writing for yearsnwithout ever breaking into the publicnconsciousness. That’s okay, ornso I’ve always claimed: all I evernwanted to do was write, quietly, forna living. Who knows what monstrositiesnof ambition lie buried innthat assertion?nWrite he does, with discipline, annuallynracking up a book—one was madenin the twelve months this memoirnrecounts—and a few dozen magazinenarticles and calendar essays, a pace he hasnmaintained for three decades with annannual income, in good years, that a parttimenpostal carrier would sneer at.nJerome is full of complaints, most ofnthem well-founded: editors don’t returnnhis calls or answer his queries, the leadingntrade journals don’t review his booksn(that the New York Times gives one anfavorable mention is cause for cries ofnjoy). For all that, his book does notndescend into whining. Jerome strikes thenreader as a man full of mature self-awarefnessnand propedy placed worries: “Afterneight nonsmashes, a publisher is less likelynto invest in me as a writer for thenfuture. I am approaching sixty, and stillnhave hopes that my career will not justndwindle to a stop; it is therefore time fornthings to start clicking. This makes fornGREAT TOPICS, GREAT ISSUESn§nEach issue $5.50 (postage and handling included)nDatenQty.nFEBRUARY 1992n0nMARCH 1992nAPRIL 1992nName AddressnFaces of Eve: Goddess, Starlet, Poetess—Marchn1992—Janet Scott Barlow onnthe devolution of women on the screen,nThomas Fleming on marriage as the realnright to privacy, and R.S. Gwynn onnAmerican women poets. Plus Betsy Clarkenon the politics of rape, Anne Marie Morgannon the new technology of fertility control,nand Kenneth Craycraft on Mary AnnnGlendon’s Rights Talk.nBACK1SÂ¥UES ORDERTORM”nCity State ZipnMail with check to; Chronicles * 934 North Main Street * Rockford, IL 61103nI ..n38/CHRONICLES.’nnn;nadditional pressure, on top of the usualn… jitters.” His worries are more than balancednout, Jerome cheerfully admits atnmany points throughout his book, bynthe freedom that comes from settingnone’s own goals. At such happy momentsnThe Writing Trade offers more encouragementnthan dissuasion to the wouldbenwriter. Even if his end-of-year tax paymentncomes perilously close to wiping outnhis bank balance, Jerorne remarks, whatnof it? He allows that the sensible solutionnwould be a government program thatnpays writers like himself a subsidy to pullntheir typewriters out of production, in thenmanner of low-yield croppers, and sparenreviewers and editors and creditors theirntroubles.nStudents of writing would do well toncast aside the zen-of-writing and innervoicenmanifestos that so many publishers’ncatalogs sport, and instead turn tonwriters like John Jerome and KennethnAtchity, whose book A Writer’s Time isnessential. Perhaps a few of those studentsnmight be persuaded thereby to abandonntheir literary dreams for an easiernavenue to woridly comforts — investmentnbanking, say, or politics. The rest will atnleast take up the pen with a clearer visionnof what their futures likely have in store.n’ If their paths are to be similar to the onenJerome describes, at least they’ll have nonwant of pleasure amid the torments.nGregory Mchlamee, a freelance writer,nis the author and editor of seven books.nThe Spanish Americas—April 1992—nRichard Estrada on the Hispanicncontributions to American culture, MarionVargas Llosa on the difficult rise of thenLatin American novel, Chilton Williamson,nJr. on bullfighting in Juarez, Mexico, andnpoems by Jorge Luis Borges. Plus BradnLinaweaver on Albert Jay Nock, WilliamnMurchison on LBJ, and Murray Rothbardnon violence in New York City.nCostnTotal Enclosed $ .n