G. K. Chesterton said of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson that he "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins." This collection of Stevenson's essays includes: On the Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places, An Apology for Idlers, Aes Triplex, Talk and Talkers, A Gossip on Romance, The Character of Dogs, A College Magazine, Books Which Have Influenced Me, and Pulvis et Umbra.