3 Minutes or Less

Each October at the PEN/Faulkner Gala, well-known authors take the stage of the Folger Shakespeare Library's Elizabethan Theatre to ponder the meaning of such universal mysteries as "Obsession," "Illusion," "First love," "Heroes," and more. Each author is given only three minutes or less to speak. The results have been unpredictable: clever, confessional, inspiring, hilarious, profound, and all of them entertaining. Over a hundred and fifty of these essays have been collected to create this unique anthology.

Pete Hamill, Alice McDermott, John Edgar Wideman, Annie Dillard, William Kennedy, Joyce Carol Oates, Larry McMurtry, Susan Isaacs, and Maurice Sendak are among the numerous authors included in this diverse and diverting book of never-before-collected brief essays and very short stories.