I thoroughly enjoyed Williams' first memoir, CROSSING WILDCAT RIDGE, so was eager to read this one, IT IS WRITTEN. And I was quickly charmed by and absorbed in his description of his southern childhood in small town Georgia, the middle child of an educator and a social services caseworker. The author grew up surrounded by books and classical music. His college years are spent at the University of Georgia (UGA), where he met his wfe, Linda, and soon switched his concentration from music to literature and history, and began an early career in journalism, working at various small newspapers in the region around Athens. His stories of early, seedy apartments and social gatherings and drinking with friends and coworkers brought back memories of my own - BYO parties and potlucks with other financially strapped married students. And then more about his early years in the newspaper biz, newly married, learning his trade and experiencing small defeats and successes. And all of this time he also made time to write, first poetry, and then prose. His breakthrough came in his early thirties, with the publication of his novel, THE HEART OF A DISTANT FOREST, which enjoyed considerable success. And his next novel, ALL THE WESTERN STARS, promised even greater things when it was optioned for a film version. Sadly, the film never got made, although the machinations - scripts written and scrapped, actors like Lemmon, Newman and Garner in and out of the deal, etc. - dragged on for several years, giving Williams opportunities to run shoulders with Hollywood rich and famous and celebrities, a heady experience for a small town Georgia boy.

Indeed, from the time of his first novel 's publication onward, name-dropping of celebrities, from the world of letters, publishing and entertainment, often takes center stage, to a point where it became an annoying distraction from Williams' own story. There is, for example, a long, rambling section about a project he worked on with country singer-songwriter, Bill Anderson, that never came to anything, but he got to meet other Nashville stars and visit the Opry's Ryman Auditorium. And too much time is spent on his ongoing friendship with producer, "Dick" Zanuck.

Williams spends a lot of time telling of the writing of all of his poetry, stories and novels - some published, some not. He also speaks again about his various health problems over the years, some of it repeated from his first memoir. I stayed engaged through nearly 250 pages, but then the recital of numerous awards and honors received, as well as his pride in his work and family became repetitious and often tedious, reading almost like a eulogy for a prominent Southern writer. So, yeah, I will confess that I started skim-reading the last hundred-plus pages.

Bottom line: I enjoyed the heck out of Williams' story, until it went on a bit too long and became just a touch too self-congratulatory. Despite this, I will recommend it highly, especially to his fans (and I AM one, ever since reading those two first novels) and wannabe writers.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )