"Janna Malamud Smith has lectured and has published widely nationally and internationally. She is the author of four books. The first two, Private Matters. (1997) and A Potent Spell. (2003) were chosen as ""Notable Books"" by The New York Times Sunday Book Review. Her third, ""My Father is a book."" (2006) was selected as a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and a New York Times Editor's Choice. Two of her essays were reprinted in Best American Essays. Her most recent book is An Absorbing Errand: How Artists and Craftsmen Make their way to Mastery (2013). She writes regularly for Cognoscenti, an opinion website for WBUR a Boston NPR station."