As a struggling writer I find it difficult to consult my creativity in a nurturing yet properly instructive way. One of the main difficulties is finding the right literary setting to allow my ideas to flourish (or at least a place to plant them). Until I read The Burning Library I was only familiar with White's fiction. I was apprehensive about his essays; that the power of his imaginary voice would be subdued in the realm of non fiction. It is subdued but it is no less brilliant, no less insightful, and no less stimulating. White rules his world with a brutal and sensitive brain; he debunks "myth" as he creates it. When the essays turn to biography it helps to be familiar with who he's talking about (I reccomend a class in contemporary French Literary Criticism) but it isn't necessary. White is accessible, provocative and entertaining. After reading these essays it took me a long time to return to fiction--both reading and writing it. These are inspiring articles; intellectual, risque, humorous, and most importantly... still chic. I am--as with all White's writing--inspired to create but usually disappointed with how short I fall in my attempts to be similar. I highly reccomend this book to anyone interested in gay history or the contemporary gay culture.