Bain became a full-time writer in 1978, beginning his first book, "Aftershocks", and thereupon contributing many articles and reviews to "The New York Times", the "New York Times Book Review" (to date, 32 reviews), "Newsday" (15), the "Philadelphia Inquirer" (22), "Washington Post Book World", "Los Angeles Times Book Review", and articles and essays in "Smithsonian", "American Heritage", "TV Guide", "Glamour", "Kenyon Review", "Prairie Schooner", and a number of travel magazines.