 John Updike described Chatwin 's writing as " a clipped , lapidary prose that compresses worlds into pages " , while one of Chatwin 's editors , Susannah Clapp , wrote , " Although his syntax was pared down , his words were not @-@ or at least not only @-@ plain . ... His prose is both spare and flamboyant . " Chatwin 's writing was shaped by his work as a <unk> at Sotheby 's , which provided him with years of practice writing concise yet vivid descriptions of objects with the intention of enticing buyers . In addition , Chatwin 's interest in nomads also influenced his writing . One aspect of nomadic culture that interested him was the few possessions they had . Their spartan way of life appealed to his aesthetic sense , and it was something he sought to emulate in both his life and his writing . He strove to strip unnecessary objects from his life and unnecessary words from his prose . 
