In the following excerpt from a longer interview, Wolff describes his writing process and how the story "In the Garden of the North American Martyrs" evolved. [Jay Woodruff] How did this story get started? What was its genesis?

[Tobias Wolff] Well, there are a few things that I can trace it to. One is a job interview I had several years ago which was not, it turned out, a serious interview. That is, I had been brought across the country in order to fulfill a requirement of the college that so many people be interviewed for each position. And when I found this out it really burned me up. I tried writing the story a couple of times from a personal point of view, my own point of view. This never really took. It sounded whiny, "poor me." After all, I live a rarified life, one that's...