Last Saturday at Books & Books Pico Iyer, after presenting his new book, Autumn Light, spoke critically of his first book, Video Night in Kathmandu, noting that he had written it quickly and claiming that, as a result, it didn’t have a lasting effect on readers. (I would disagree with that assessment.) But it is common for writers to dismiss their early efforts. Back at the bookstore last Thursday, I heard four young writers present their first novels and, during the question and answer period, I was tempted to ask them if they could imagine a time when they would look back with dismay at the book they had just read with such pleasure from.
