“The Writer’s Desk” by Jill Krementz

The apartment my family was listing on Washington Street sold last week, in lightening fast time thanks to the terrific Ana Dierkhising. The good news is that my mother was able to sell the apartment. The bad news is that after 21 years of writing in this apartment, I was forced to move my office. When my mom first bought the apartment, I wrote at a desk that pulled out from an armoir we ordered from the Horchow catalogue. But the truth is that after just a few years of sitting at a tiny armoir desk, I moved my writing supplies over to the kitchen table – a lovely Guy Chaddock square top. And it was a good thing I moved to a larger space because soon after I was joined at that table by my writing partner, Joe Bwarie. Together we wrote many  fairy tale plays that were later produced at the Falcon Theatre, where Joe is no co-artistic director. “The Writer’s Desk” by Jill Krementz is a photography book that shows famous writers at their desks. First published in 1996, my mom gave me this book as a gift that same year and wrote, “Thank you for writing a short, wonderful speech that made everyone happy, especially me.” The black-and-white book takes the reader on a wonderful journey into the lives of  many iconic writers. You can see Susan Sontag writing at a large dining room table, John Cheever with his smokes in front of a typewriter, Pablo Neruda writing by hand at his stately desk, Toni Morrison writing on her couch, William F. Buckley  Jr., writing in his car, and Catherine Schine writing in her bed. One of my favorite pictures is Tennessee Williams standing above his cluttered desk. He reported to the author that all he needs to write well is not a desk, but wine. In the end, It doesn’t matter where I sit when I write, it just matters that I have the time to write.  This week’s LLP was written in San Rafael on a butcher block island from Ikea. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.