These are Richard Elman's recollections of the various, mostly literary celebrities he encountered during his four decades as a working writer and journalist -- among them Isaac Bashevis Singer, Tillie Olsen, Bernard Malamud, Faye Dunaway, Hunter S. Thompson, and other important artists and writers who were Elman's teachers and, occasionally, adversaries. Engagingly written and never superficial, these portraits and anecdotes in many cases strike to the center of each subject's art. To many readers, these persons are just "names"; Elman brings them to life while never simplifying or overdramatizing their work.

Richard Elman was the author of twenty-five books, including Fredi&Shirl&The Kids, The 28th Day of Elul, Cocktails at Somoza's, and Tar Beach, and was Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at State University of New York, Stony Brook. Under the pseudonym John Howland Spyker, he was the author of the much praised memoir of life in upstate New York, Little Lives.