Deadly Sins

A. S. Byatt, Thomas Pynchon, Mary Catherine Gordon, John Updike, William Trevor, Gore Vidal, Howard, Richard, Joyce Carol Oates

This is a collection of short literary essays, one to each of the seven sins, plus an extra item in "despair", by as many prominent literary figures, of whom Byatt is one. Others include Gore Vidal and John Updike. It can properly be called a slim volume; with writers like these, it can hardly fail to include some fascinating moments, elegantly articulated,ü but as a whole it does not live long in one's memory.