Nevada's preeminent living writer reveals the ideas and creative process behind his published work. Renowned Nevada writer Robert Laxalt has embraced a wide range of subjects in his nearly half-century career. In this candid, beautifully written memoir, he explores for the first time what is perhaps his most difficult subject ever - himself and his life as a writer. The first part of the book consists of a series of vignettes about his youth in Carson City as the second son of an immigrant Basque family and his later experiences as a student at the University of Nevada in Reno.