The book that made him weep uncontrollably:
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, because it is a perfect novel and that it had to end but also the way it ended devastated me. I will re-read and re-read this book my whole life.
The book I recommend over and over again:
Lately I’ve been telling everyone to read Benjamin Labatut, his When We Cease to Understand the World and his new The Maniac are insanely good.
The book I read in one sitting, it was that good:
Songs on Endless Repeat by Anthony Veasna So. Such a loss. We get fragments of a novel we will never get to read called Straight Through Cambotown.
The book that currently sits on my nightstand:
I don’t have a nightstand but what I’m currently most actively reading is Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright which is INCREDIBLE.
The book that made me laugh out loud:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole was the first book to make me laugh at all. I didn’t know it could be done!
The book I’d like turned into a TV show:
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. (I think it is coming soon.)
“I was already halfway through writing There There when I read this masterpiece by Marlon James. Shortly after, I was lucky enough to be taught by him in a workshop at Tin House. After reading this book, I was further emboldened to write a book with as many characters and points of view as I wanted. It’s one of my favourites of all time.”
What kind of books do you like reading? Anything in particular you would recommend to us?
I’m constantly reading too much at once, and then can never think of the books when asked. Off the top of my head, I’d say read:
Ocean Vuong’s new novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, or his poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds.
Also Samanta Schweblin’s Mouthful of Birds.
Anything by Valeria Luiselli.
Read Terese Mailhot’s Heart Berries.
Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith.
Anything by the poet Mary Ruefle.
Anything by Clarice Lispector.
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano.
“This novel was one of the first multiple point of view books I read after Let the Great World Spin. When it comes to writing novels, I think you have to know all the rules in order to break them, but this was Bolaño’s breakout novel – at least in the United States. I certainly wasn’t trying my hand at a novel when I read this, but when it came time to, having many POVs was always the way I wanted it to be structured.” 1
Sources: Author AMA and Service95
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