The writings in this volume contain a key statement on writing in the modern age and whether it is a futile act as it explores the principles of writing for pleasure and for profit. In this text, Johnson strips down the act of writing into its most basic forms and explores problems such as how literature has fallen, our want to write and be seen, and just how we can change this.
In Johnson's debut book, he questions the reasoning for writing, reading and the modern state of publications. He asks why write when the only books that will be successful are dull and manufactured purely for profit.