Banville's Future

Cast your mind forward to 2050. In a biographical dictionary you read: 'Banville, John: Irish author of numerous novels, all of which are entirely forgotten. Chiefly remembered for a scurrilous review of Lord McEwan of Islington's masterpiece, Saturday. Some of his novels, which Banville had written under the pseudonym Benjamin Black, are still in print.'

Why One Hasn't Written A Novel

John Updike's goal is 1,000 words a day. Richard Ford awakes at six so he can begin as soon as possible. Philip Roth follows Nathaniel Hawthorne and Thomas Wolfe in preferring to stand for hours on end. Oh, the discipline and routine needed to be a writer.