<P>After seeing a new translation of Jorge Luis Borges's mini-essay "Borges and I" (included here), Halpern asked numerous writers to muse briefly on "the fictional persona 'behind the scenes,'" the alter(ed) ego that accompanies creation. </P> <P> He asked some 50 well-known authors-such as Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, William Gass, Czeslaw Milosz, James Michener, Joyce Carol Oates, and Cynthia Ozick-to write pieces on this idea. The essays are mostly one- to two-page snapshots and vary widely as to approach. Some are touching, others delightfully silly. </P> <P> Edward Gorey anagrams his name into those of characters including Ogdred Weary. Others, such as Cecil Brown, posit earthier personas: "He is the proper Negro who is ashamed of me, the nigger." And still others are reflective: Susan Sontag recalls her longtime disavowal of her work and finally comes to feel that "the writer is me: not my double" and thus she is "both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster." Each contributor also submitted a whimsical self-portrait.</P>