Inside the Writer's Mind

Inside the Writer's Mind propels readers into 30 very different stories, written for magazines, newspapers and the Internet. Among the stories Stephen G. Bloom dissects are profiles of accused murderers, a Little League umpire, a husband and wife who sign a suicide pact, a world-famous Brazilian plastic surgeon, and a notorious abortionist. Bloom writes about his job canning fruit cocktail, a disaster of a Caribbean cruise vacation, a lethal family of professional wrestlers, and an afternoon spent with Dr. Ruth.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Ordinary People

1 Always Right at Home

2 Busy Signal

3 Bizarre Slaying Stumps San Francisco Police

4 Couple's First Cruise: "It's Turning into a Fellini Movie"

5 Dr. Fart Speaks

6 Death of an American Dream

7 Name-droppers Alter Ill-suited Identities

8 Portrait of a Rapist

9 The Little Man

Extraordinary People

10 Doc of Ages

11 The Joy of Dr. Ruth

12 Gothic Revival.

13 Kings of the Mat

14 San Francisco's Worst Kept Secret

15 The Big Chill

16 Yugoslav Prince Covets a Crown

17 Eviction Brings Mountain Man Down

18 Sneaking Scripture into the Spotlight Extraordinary Circumstances

19 18 Years on a Long, Boozy Road

20 Streets of San Francisco Teem with Teen Runaways

21 For Melissa's Sake

22 The Man with a Hex

23 Man's Fate Hinges on Testimony of Daughter, 3; Confused Portrait Emerges of Suspect Freed in Wife's Death Ordinary Circumstances

24 A Cannery Connection

25 Mikey's Close Call

26 I Shall Return, Scout's Honor

27 Slang Leads to Miscues

28 The Dog's Hour

29 What's That in Your Mouth?

30 Yo!

Stephen G. Bloom is an American journalist and professor of Journalism at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City.