Did you know that Schiller kept rotting produce in his desk and was inspired by the smell to write? Or that Balzac drank almost 50 cups of coffee a day? What is supposed to be probably the most boring parts of our day–our daily routines–are documented and dissected in 161 anecdotes concerning the most famous people in our cultural history. Patricia Highsmith’s obsession with snails, Flannery O’Connor’s sacrosanct prayers, and Nabokov’s chain smoking are all included and leave the reader with some interesting tidbits on why order is necessary for creation. I highly recommend this insightful book and it is available in SWAN.