The Lost Saranac Interviews: Forgotten Conversations with Famous Writers Book

What looks and feels like an impersonal textbook (that's what my mom assumed it was) is actually a literary treasure trove that's long been completely unknown to the general reading population. This is a compilation of interviews, lectures and photographs from conferences that took place during the late 1970's at a mountain retreat in Saranac Lake, New York; the dazzling list of participants includes Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Beattie, Margaret Atwood, Annie Dillard, Gail Godwin, Russell Banks and E.L. Doctrow and a host of equally recognizable (or not as recognizable but equally important) names.

All of those listed above are featured authors and have chapters devoted to the intimate talks they gave, and each section is littered with valuable advice and musings to potential writers or those simply interested in literature and its creation. But wisely Joe David Bellamy, who founded this unique event and who eventually compiled this book, also includes the questions and dialogue the featured lectures sparked among the participants--often they are just as interesting and thought-provoking as the actual speeches are. A wonderful, valuable document, and what a pleasure to read.

"If you think about your college education: it's very distracting to be under the age of twenty-five, and you really don't get a college education. You don't really learn until you get out of college and have to do something yourself, and then you relearn it all and it finally begins to make sense."

-Robley Wilson