Spencer was, himself, a bomber pilot during World War II. His collection follows three young men (only one of whom will survive) into battle as pilots in the Pacific. The stories are arranged in chronological order as a “novel in stories.”

An editor at The New Yorker who has read a number of these stories wrote to say, “I really liked Spencer’s writing and thought these were strong, deceptively sophisticated stories.”

Jim has written an autobiographical essay of his experiences during the war that will be in the premier issue of the new international literary magazine Topic, to be published in May. With a few small changes, it could also serve as the Introduction to THE PILOTS.

Jim is a very young 78 years old. His writing keeps getting better and better. He is currently at work on his first novel. THE PILOTS was sold for the largest advance for a first collection in the history of our agency.