Suzanne Nossel Is Heartened by ‘Liberalism as a Way of Life’

What books are on your night stand?

Charlotte Lydia Riley’s “The Free Speech Wars.” She and I have agreed to write for a Penguin Random House UK series of short books that will offer opposing views on substantive issues of the day. Ours will address the question “Is Free Speech Under Threat?” (You can guess which side I am on). I badly want to read Salman Rushdie’s “Knife” and have brought it with me on a few short trips, but not yet found myself in the emotional space to dive in. And Sarah Lewis’s “The Unseen Truth,” which isn’t out until September, is a riveting account of the visual lenses through which we do and don’t see and understand race.

Knowing how embattled writers are right now, is it hard for you to simply read for pleasure?

Honestly, yes. We are dealing with the horrors of war between Israel and Hamas, with a devastating toll on all those affected, including writers. In Ukraine, writers are fighting on the front lines, and our colleagues at PEN Ukraine are using books and literature to nourish an embattled nation. Our core work is on behalf of individual writers who are threatened, jailed and sometimes tortured or killed because of what they express, and those numbers are going up. It does make it hard to sleep sometimes.

What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?

My breakthrough was “Danny and the Dinosaur” by Syd Hoff, when I first realized I could read on my own. Things took off from there, and by second grade, I had honed in on paperback love stories that I couldn’t possibly have understood. I still have a dog-eared copy of “Anne of Green Gables,” given to me by my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Dorros, as a prize with the inscription, “Suzanne, I know you wanted a love story, but this is a timeless tale I hope you will enjoy.” (I did eventually, after getting over my initial annoyance at being told what to read).

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).

A novel has to be immersive, and a world needs to come to life, drawing on places I have been or can imagine. I set Elizabeth Strout’s books near a summer camp in Maine where I was a counselor. My setting for Mohsin Hamid’s “Exit West” was Hong Kong. I can conjure the image of cabins in the woods at Camp David that lodged in my head when I read Lawrence Wright’s “Thirteen Days in September.” That said, it’s hard to inhabit a different geography and world by reading just a few pages a night. I need a certain amount of time for the landscape of the book to set up camp in my brain. So, my ideal reading experience is on a beach or a Balinese bed poolside, shifting from position to position throughout the day to avoid sunburn while being lost in another realm.

Writers have a lot of opinions. What makes you good at getting them to work together?

The main thing is to agree not to agree on everything. If you tried to create PEN America today it would be impossible to get such a large collection of writers to agree on anything; they would never sign on to a single organization. We cannot move in lock step with every writer or partner on every issue — the opinions among such a diverse group make that impossible. Our charter is to champion the freedom to read and write and defend the liberties that make it possible, and that’s where we find common ground.

What’s the last great book you read?

Call me a nepo-spouse, but my husband, the historian David Greenberg, has spent the last five years researching and writing “John Lewis: A Life,” which will be published in October. We all know enough to admire Lewis, but understanding his bare bones upbringing in rural Alabama and subsequent rise to national prominence at such a young age, his fearlessness in facing down beatings and jailings, and his stalwartness in standing by his ideals through a lifetime of Washington wheeling and dealing is staggering.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?

Alexandre Lefebvre’s “Liberalism as a Way of Life” helped me to better understand the interplay between culture and liberal values that is at the heart of so much of my work. At a time when liberalism is under assault from multiple quarters in the U.S. and around the world, Lefebvre offers a rousing case that liberalism is not only the best political system, but also a spiritual touchstone that makes for a rewarding life, warm relationships and a thriving society. It’s a real call to action about what we are trying to defend, and why.

What’s the last book that made you laugh?

Mo Rocca and Jonathan Greenberg’s “Roctogenarians.” I went to college with Mo, so if he is getting ready to contemplate how to rock those later decades of life, I’d better be doing the same.

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