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The Writer's Desk
Intimate, fascinating photos of famous writers at work, by the photographer who has raised author portraiture to an art form. These are rare glimpses into the mysterious, private world of the writer, putting readers closer to their favorite authors than they have ever been before. Introduction by John Updike. 58 photos.
110 pages, Hardcover
First published December 9, 1996
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376 people want to read
About the author
Jill Krementz
51 books16 followersJill Krementz is an American photographer and author. She has published 31 books, mostly of photography and children's books. She was married to Kurt Vonnegut for almost 30 years.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
August 16, 2025
Seek and Find for readers
2025/08/15
While asking GR author, Teresa Tumminello Brader (I'm currently reading her collection of short stories, Secret Keepers) about her workspace and process today, I recalled this collection of Jill Krementz' photographs of writers.
In one of my decluttering episodes of winnowing books, I donated this one. I wish I hadn't done that! Luckily, Open Library has a copy. Although the scan cuts off the left center and right center where the pages meet, it's still lovely, like a kid's Seek and Find adventure book.
I found:
⚫a bottle of Perrier next to an American Heritage Dictionary
⚫very early laptops--they look so clunky, so strange
⚫variety of electric typewriters--they don't look strange
⚫a glass of whiskey with ice in it (surprised?)
⚫a matchbook, an ashtray
⚫two standing desks
⚫a blackboard with the writer's notes written on it in chalk
⚫hundreds of pens and pencils
⚫a cat, a dog
⚫a pair of baby twins drinking milk bottles while lying on the floor
I remember when I owned this book, trying to decern each item, its use, its memory to the writer. Seems also as if every room in the house was used by one writer or another. Some work spaces were cluttered (Kurt Vonnegut), some were minimalistically austere (E.B. White).
I love the short texts included, too, writers writing about the nuts and bolts. Some wrote best in the morning (Katherine Anne Porter), some find later in the day best (4pm to 7pm after a walk, P.G. Wodehouse), and others feel more desperate, lucky if they write a page in a day (Edmund White). Some found writing is "hell" (William Styron) and others likened it to slow carving in marble to chip away at the beauty of a "pigeon" within (Archibald McLeish).
As you can see, there are all manner of techniques, some even regimented, dispelling the idea of twiddling a pencil waiting for the Muse to arrive. Although, some have no writing habits and often do just that, wasting away the day doodling, while waiting (Joyce Carol Oates.)
Apparently there is no magic formula, only words strung together one at a time to create fairy lights for the minds of loving readers.
I will find a copy of this book again, put it in my favorite shelf (my "granite" shelf I call it, next to my reading chair) and one day while away the time from 4pm to 7pm, finding more seek and finds.
2025/08/15
While asking GR author, Teresa Tumminello Brader (I'm currently reading her collection of short stories, Secret Keepers) about her workspace and process today, I recalled this collection of Jill Krementz' photographs of writers.
In one of my decluttering episodes of winnowing books, I donated this one. I wish I hadn't done that! Luckily, Open Library has a copy. Although the scan cuts off the left center and right center where the pages meet, it's still lovely, like a kid's Seek and Find adventure book.
I found:
⚫a bottle of Perrier next to an American Heritage Dictionary
⚫very early laptops--they look so clunky, so strange
⚫variety of electric typewriters--they don't look strange
⚫a glass of whiskey with ice in it (surprised?)
⚫a matchbook, an ashtray
⚫two standing desks
⚫a blackboard with the writer's notes written on it in chalk
⚫hundreds of pens and pencils
⚫a cat, a dog
⚫a pair of baby twins drinking milk bottles while lying on the floor
I remember when I owned this book, trying to decern each item, its use, its memory to the writer. Seems also as if every room in the house was used by one writer or another. Some work spaces were cluttered (Kurt Vonnegut), some were minimalistically austere (E.B. White).
I love the short texts included, too, writers writing about the nuts and bolts. Some wrote best in the morning (Katherine Anne Porter), some find later in the day best (4pm to 7pm after a walk, P.G. Wodehouse), and others feel more desperate, lucky if they write a page in a day (Edmund White). Some found writing is "hell" (William Styron) and others likened it to slow carving in marble to chip away at the beauty of a "pigeon" within (Archibald McLeish).
As you can see, there are all manner of techniques, some even regimented, dispelling the idea of twiddling a pencil waiting for the Muse to arrive. Although, some have no writing habits and often do just that, wasting away the day doodling, while waiting (Joyce Carol Oates.)
Apparently there is no magic formula, only words strung together one at a time to create fairy lights for the minds of loving readers.
I will find a copy of this book again, put it in my favorite shelf (my "granite" shelf I call it, next to my reading chair) and one day while away the time from 4pm to 7pm, finding more seek and finds.
September 11, 2014
This book was given to me as a gift by Bill Marshall in August 2014. It contains photos of the workspaces of 56 writers and accompanies them with snippets taken from the writers' discussions of their process as published in The Paris Review. Among these writers is the late John Updike (1932-2009), who wrote the book's introduction. I was reminded how much I enjoy Updike's prose. A great writer, he never took his gift for granted and always did his homework. In his introduction here, he provides an inventory of the various writers' accouterments and notes the ratio of dogs to cats.
Some of the other writers included are Stephen King, John Irving, John Cheever, E.B. White, Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, Joan Didion, Eudora Welty, Joseph Heller, Amy Tan, and a whole host of writers whose names were unfamiliar.
The photos were taken over the course of a quarter century, from 1971 to 1996, and it is immediately clear how much technology raced ahead in that span. We move from massive manual typewriters and piles of paper, to electric typewriters and smaller piles, to writers perched in various spots with laptop computers. I'd like to see a more recent version of this same approach, with a more recent crop of writers and with workspaces reflecting the current tools of the trade.
The Writer's Desk is a lovely book and has earned both a protective dust jacket cover and a spot on my "Most Loved Books" shelf in my home office. Having this book at hand just might make the process of writing a little less lonely. Or at least remind me that others have been down the same path before me.
Thank you, Bill.
Some of the other writers included are Stephen King, John Irving, John Cheever, E.B. White, Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, Joan Didion, Eudora Welty, Joseph Heller, Amy Tan, and a whole host of writers whose names were unfamiliar.
The photos were taken over the course of a quarter century, from 1971 to 1996, and it is immediately clear how much technology raced ahead in that span. We move from massive manual typewriters and piles of paper, to electric typewriters and smaller piles, to writers perched in various spots with laptop computers. I'd like to see a more recent version of this same approach, with a more recent crop of writers and with workspaces reflecting the current tools of the trade.
The Writer's Desk is a lovely book and has earned both a protective dust jacket cover and a spot on my "Most Loved Books" shelf in my home office. Having this book at hand just might make the process of writing a little less lonely. Or at least remind me that others have been down the same path before me.
Thank you, Bill.
January 22, 2024
Wow has writing changed since this book was published! A very interesting look back at the way writing used to be, and a fun look at some well-known writers desks from the lens of a great photographer.
February 10, 2017
I love this book. For the text as much as the photography. Highly recommended.
August 4, 2020
I would love to see an update of this book! Pretty good diversity of authors for a book published in the 1990s. Krementz's photographs are awesome, and I plan on using this book for a writing assignment this school year!
January 29, 2013
I got this little gem second-hand. It is simply a collection of black and white portraits of writers in their writing spaces, accompanied by a few paragraphs in their own words about the writing life. The text was mostly gleaned from interviews from The Paris Review, and there is a introduction by John Updike.
It's a peek behind the scenes of these people doing what they do in utter solitude. It's pretty safe to say that there is no commonality except that they all found their way to publication and acclaim.
The photos were taken from the 1970s to the mid-90s, and the way they got from idea to page is varied: lots of big, old typewriters, and many clunky tan desktop computers and word processors, not to mention a couple thick, boxy laptops. But just as many write in longhand on plain lined paper. Some writers sit at true desks, like Pablo Neruda, who looks like a state official, with a flag on the wall behind his massive formal desk. He's as formal, in suit and tie and pocket square. Others have improvised desks, like Susan Sontag's long pine table that looks like it came out of some Irish kitchen. Toni Morrison sits on a sofa with a notebook in her lap. Rita Dove stands at what almost seems an altar: treasured photos and stones between lit candles, pen and a sheet of paper. Some of the workrooms are messy and chaotic, some are spare, some have lovely views out the windows, and some have the blinds drawn, or are even windowless to keep focus on the page. And here's no surprise: some of these eminent writers aren't even writing. Kurt Vonnegut, for instance, is ignoring the manuscript in his typewriter and doing a cryptogram in his bare feet.
About the only thing all these writers have in common is that they write alone (well, except for George Plimpton, who oddly has twin babies on the floor behind him sucking on bottles). They often talk about the need for uninterrupted time alone in order to do their work. I love this bit from Dorothy West, which pretty much sums it up: "When I was seven, I said to my mother, may I close my door? And she said yes, but why do you want to close your door? And I said because I want to think. And when I was eleven I said to my mother, may I lock my door? And she said yes, but why do you want to lock your door? And I said, because I want to write."
It's a peek behind the scenes of these people doing what they do in utter solitude. It's pretty safe to say that there is no commonality except that they all found their way to publication and acclaim.
The photos were taken from the 1970s to the mid-90s, and the way they got from idea to page is varied: lots of big, old typewriters, and many clunky tan desktop computers and word processors, not to mention a couple thick, boxy laptops. But just as many write in longhand on plain lined paper. Some writers sit at true desks, like Pablo Neruda, who looks like a state official, with a flag on the wall behind his massive formal desk. He's as formal, in suit and tie and pocket square. Others have improvised desks, like Susan Sontag's long pine table that looks like it came out of some Irish kitchen. Toni Morrison sits on a sofa with a notebook in her lap. Rita Dove stands at what almost seems an altar: treasured photos and stones between lit candles, pen and a sheet of paper. Some of the workrooms are messy and chaotic, some are spare, some have lovely views out the windows, and some have the blinds drawn, or are even windowless to keep focus on the page. And here's no surprise: some of these eminent writers aren't even writing. Kurt Vonnegut, for instance, is ignoring the manuscript in his typewriter and doing a cryptogram in his bare feet.
About the only thing all these writers have in common is that they write alone (well, except for George Plimpton, who oddly has twin babies on the floor behind him sucking on bottles). They often talk about the need for uninterrupted time alone in order to do their work. I love this bit from Dorothy West, which pretty much sums it up: "When I was seven, I said to my mother, may I close my door? And she said yes, but why do you want to close your door? And I said because I want to think. And when I was eleven I said to my mother, may I lock my door? And she said yes, but why do you want to lock your door? And I said, because I want to write."
February 10, 2019
I remember this book from a while back - I even had a copy at some point - but when I picked it up just recently, it was a fresh experience. Jill Krementz was, in her day, a very well-known photographer, and she appeared to specialize in writers - for a while it seemed like she took every author photograph on every book jacket, and very good photographs they are too. But I had forgotten how compelling the copy was. It's from several sources, most notably the wonderful series of author interviews in George Plimpton's Paris Review. I always loved those, because the authors talked candidly about process, and I found it very comforting as a fledgling writer that there were so many ways that authors I admired produced their work. It gave me permission to find my own way, and now as a teacher, it enables me to help students find their own ways to write successfully. It feels like a treat to open a book and be able to visit E.B.White or Toni Morrison or Pablo Neruda and watch them at work. Perhaps of greatest interest to writers, or maybe to all readers who admire writers.
December 28, 2018
The last sentence of the Acknowledgements really sum up my feelings for this book: “It has also been most reassuring to find desks messier than my own.” I loved the photos of writers, each accompanied by a blurb from the respective author. I only wish each blurb was matched with a reading list of each author’s books.
December 18, 2019
A friend from Oxford, England sent me this book, and reading it was a great delight, moving, and gave me great creative inspiration for my own writing. This book is a must read for any writer.
April 19, 2020
A lovely little book about writing and time, more so than the actual desks.
Though, the desks are interesting indeed.
Though, the desks are interesting indeed.
Read
May 10, 2007i love those pages in magazines that show you what's in a person's bag, and i love nosing around people's kitchens, and i love anything at all to do with a writer and her desk.
March 24, 2013
It's pretty cool to see writers in their natural habitat. These are photos accompanied by "how I write" by the authors themselves.
March 5, 2016
A book for aficionados ...
November 24, 2016
Interesting - but doesn't really provide any useful information
January 27, 2022
The book is made up of large black and white photos of over 50 writers at their desks. Alongside each photo is a paragraph or two from the writer about his or her workspace, style, routine, etc.
It’s interesting to see the wide variety of styles, routines, and even dress. Some of the men came to their desks with sports jackets and ties. James Michener preferred very loose tee shirts and shorts so he was unimpeded as he worked.
The work space for some was clean and sparse. Many had very cluttered desks and offices.
Some had a routine; others were more free form in style.
Some needed absolute quiet and solitude; some were able to concentrate in the midst of everyday family life.
Some wrote longhand, some used a typewriter, others a computer. The book was published in 1996, and some of the pictures are much older. I don’t know how many chose pencils or typewriters instead of computers or just because that’s what was available in their day.
I loved many of the insights:
Jill Krementz is the wife of Kurt Vonnegut and the author of several other books. She says in her acknowledgements that many of these excerpts came from George Plimpton’s “Writers at Work” series in his magazine.
I enjoyed this glimpse of writers’ spaces and styles.
It’s interesting to see the wide variety of styles, routines, and even dress. Some of the men came to their desks with sports jackets and ties. James Michener preferred very loose tee shirts and shorts so he was unimpeded as he worked.
The work space for some was clean and sparse. Many had very cluttered desks and offices.
Some had a routine; others were more free form in style.
Some needed absolute quiet and solitude; some were able to concentrate in the midst of everyday family life.
Some wrote longhand, some used a typewriter, others a computer. The book was published in 1996, and some of the pictures are much older. I don’t know how many chose pencils or typewriters instead of computers or just because that’s what was available in their day.
I loved many of the insights:
John Updike writes “by hand, when the fragility of the project—a poem, the start of a novel—demands that I sneak up on it with that humblest and quietest of weapons, a pencil” (p. xi).
Archibald MacLeish: “I am sure—I mean I am not sure at all but I believe—the master poets must come at their poems as a hawk on a pigeon in one dive. I can’t. I chip away like a stonemason who has got it into his head that there is a pigeon in that block of marble. But there’s a delight in the chipping” (p. 77).
Joseph Heller said many of his ideas come when he’s doing things like walking the dog or brushing his teeth. “I don’t get my best ideas while actually writing” (p. 85).
Isaac Bashevis Singer: “Some writers say that they can only write if they go to a far island. They would go to the moon to write not to be disturbed. I think that being disturbed is a part of human life and sometimes it’s useful to be disturbed because you interrupt your writing and while you rest, while you are busy with something else, your perspective changes or the horizon widens. All I can say about myself is that I have never really written in peace” (p. 91). That’s encouragement for people like me who are easily disturbed.
Saul Bellow: “I think that art has something to do with an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction” (p. 99).
Jill Krementz is the wife of Kurt Vonnegut and the author of several other books. She says in her acknowledgements that many of these excerpts came from George Plimpton’s “Writers at Work” series in his magazine.
I enjoyed this glimpse of writers’ spaces and styles.
July 22, 2022
Jill Krementz's lovely book of black-and-white photographs features 56 writers in their workspaces, along with brief comments about their art and/or practice. Since this is an older volume, many of these subjects have since passed on (Eudora Welty, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, E.B. White, Susan Sontag, etc.), so it is particularly poignant to see and hear from them again. I enjoyed viewing them write in longhand, peck away on typewriters, or work with huge, boxy early computers. Some of them were ahead of their time as well: Rita Dove and Saul Bellow both worked at standing desks. Who knew?
June 5, 2018
Photographs of authors working at their desks, many taken in the 1970's and another batch in the mid-nineties. Krementz had photographed more than 1,500 writers at the publication date of 1996. Accompanying text comes from an author series in The Paris Review, with a nod of thanks to George Plimpton. George, by the way, sits at "entirely the wrong desk." Pick up a copy to find out why, and on the way, marvel at how word processors have changed in a couple of generations, and how many great authors used and use a pad and a pen or pencil.
January 1, 2022
This book pairs short excerpts of writers' thoughts on writing with wonderful black and white photographs of them at work at their desks (or other creative substitutes: in their bed, in a car with a dictaphone, perched on a kitchen counter...). I always love a glimpse into creatives' processes, perspectives, and home bases, so it was a really interesting and enjoyable read with some poetic insights (even if some of the offices were so breathtakingly cluttered that I began to feel claustrophobic by proxy).
November 2, 2017
The Writer's Desk, not only shows the writing space of various authors but it has a paragraph or two about each photo and author. As each piece of work is unique so are these authors' desks. Some are OCD to the fullest and others are the complete polar opposite. It is amazing to see such brilliant minds and composers of the written word to see how and where they create their master pieces. The Writer's Desk is a quick simple read.
July 27, 2021
A coffee table book (I guess you could call it) that I impulse-bought and read in an evening. Most of the photographs were taken in the mid-90s and early '70s, which had me wondering what a version in the age of social media would look like. Honestly just loved paging through it. I'm a sucker for small glimpses into artists' lives that revolve around a theme. Best used book purchase I've made in a while!
September 1, 2025
Found this very bittersweet. Published in 1996, so less than thirty years since this kind of book was commonplace. Jill Krementz is still alive, I don't know if she is still taking photos. Her body of work is terrific. Very interesting to see who appears in this book. A single portrait is selected for each author, accompanied by an excerpt from their interview with the Paris Review. I stumbled across this on ThriftBooks, and some of her postcard books as well. Another vanishing breed.
November 25, 2021
Great little book of the varied desks of writers. Felt like peering into the creative worlds of some of the greats. Well designed and a quick read, made me want to return to writing again. Also made me nostalgic for an era of writing before the computer, seems like it would cut down on distractions…
August 6, 2017
I only the read the pages of the authors I had heard of. This book is rather old at this point, and the authors in it look so young compared to how old they are today. I plan to read some of the pages aloud to my Creative Writing 2 students. I'm glad I have this book.
May 21, 2024
Although dated for sure, this was a fascinating look into where a variety of writers write and what they have to say about the process. There were several that I don't know, a chance to broaden my perspectives. Enjoyable read.
June 17, 2017
1 point for messy desks of writers. Dorothy West, Robert Coles and Jean Piaget!
1 point for seeing our studio design in a new York city loft
1 point for seeing our studio design in a new York city loft
December 12, 2017
Visually inspiring. I hope my writer's desk can be featured in a book like this one day.
March 18, 2018
Beautiful book with snippets of inspiration from some of the greats.
January 11, 2019
Somewhat interesting but not as much as I had hoped.
March 4, 2023
I was looking for some inspiration as a writer myself. While the photos were good there wasn’t much content. A real coffee table book you can read on the crapper in one sitting
September 16, 2024
4.5
Fun little glimpses into the personalities and writing processes of the authors featured. Haven’t felt this kind of adrenaline since those scholastic I Spy books
Fun little glimpses into the personalities and writing processes of the authors featured. Haven’t felt this kind of adrenaline since those scholastic I Spy books
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews