SOURCE: Blades, John. “Author Revels in the Joys and Dangers of Writing.” Chicago Tribune Books (8 February 1987): 3.

In the following review, Blades praises Busch's essays in When People Publish, giving particular commendation to the selections that are introspective.

Taking his cue from Hemingway, Frederick Busch calls serious writing a “dangerous” practice, going on to warn: “It doesn't keep the darkness out. Nothing so safe: it lets the darkness in.” By that definition, Busch himself is a dangerous man, a prince of darkness, and anyone with delusions about writing as a reasonably safe and sane occupation had best avoid his books, in particular his newest, When People Publish: Essays on Writers and Writing.

With writing manuals a dollar a dozen in our inflationary era, Busch's book of essays—autobiographical, critical, inspirational—is a genuine rarity as well as a paradox. Busch is no false messiah, promising eternal rewards for those...