LEE GUTKIND is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh, the first school to grant an M.F.A. degree in creative nonfiction. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, among numerous other grants and awards. Mr. Gutkind is the author of five previous books, including Many Sleepless Nights, winner of the American Heart Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scientific Journalism.