I hunkered down with this book the weekend Hurricane Frances was creeping across Florida. It helped to keep me distracted from the uncertainty of waiting for the storm to arrive. I even did some of the exercises. Here is the product of one of them:Portrait 09-05-04(with posthumous apologies to e e cummings)Hurricane Franceshas passedwho used to bea category 4with winds of a hundred and tentwentythirtyfortyfifty miles per hourin the eastern Caribbeanand what i want to know ishow did you like your eye-walled stormMr. WeathermanBut even if there is no hurricane in your immediate vicinity, this is still a good book to read, especially if you are one of those people whose blood runs cold at the sight of a blank sheet of paper (or a blank computer screen).