What books are on your night stand?
“The Besieged City,” by Clarice Lispector; “On Giving Up,” by Adam Phillips; “Manhattan Transfer,” by John Dos Passos (craving a reread); “Our Strangers,” by Lydia Davis; “The Coin,” by Yasmin Zaher; “Why Surrealism Matters,” by Mark Polizzotti; “Chirri & Chirra Underground,” by Kaya Doi; “My Favorite Things,” by Maira Kalman.
Describe your ideal reading experience.
My daughter, Ida, and I choose about five books, then we get set up on the big couch in the living room, or sometimes in my bed. She sits on my lap and I read out loud to her. It is perhaps the most relaxing thing that I’ve ever done! I don’t have a talent for “chillness,” so this is a notable change for me. And sometimes, if it is the late afternoon, I will have a beer and balance it on the books that have been read already, and she will have a chocolate milk in a sippy cup because spills on upholstery are hell to me.
Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?
I love magical realism, especially in translation. I love fiction from other countries in the past. I like reading about families on trips.
What’s the last great book you read?
If I have to choose, it is “Soutine’s Last Journey,” by Ralph Dutli. I want to read books that provide lots of information — Who was Chaim Soutine? Why did he paint what he painted? What happened to Soutine and other Jewish artists in Paris when the Nazis came? — but give it via a spellbinding flow. Reading this book was like riding a dream.
What’s the last book you read that made you laugh?
Jen Beagin’s “Big Swiss” (other reactions as well, let’s get real, it does it all!).
The last book that made you cry?
“Loved and Missed,” by Susie Boyt. Good lord.
What’s the best book you’ve ever gotten as a gift?
My mother gave me “Cat’s Eye,” by Margaret Atwood, when I was in seventh grade. It’s about an artist affected by the social trauma of her teen years. I wasn’t faring well in the social set, and it must have killed my mother to see me become suddenly quiet and flinchy. The book completely rerouted my experience that spring. It was as if I were untangled from a net.
How have you changed as a writer since the publication of your first book?
I’ve identified my process and dumped the idea that in order to write, I have to catch some sort of mysterious wave in the grand surf of chaos itself.
What’s your philosophy on book readings?
I love book readings. My philosophy is that I am there to perform the text and perhaps let it expand into a new zone, and that rather than trying to hold up whatever state I was in when I wrote the text, I’d like to show a combination of the original state and the reaction/connection I’m currently experiencing while I read. Aliveness and connection are the priority.
How do you sign books for your fans?
I usually wish people enjoyment or encourage them to have fun, and then I make a bizarre scrawl-thing that is my real signature. But the more I sign, the weirder the signature becomes.
What character from literature would you most like to play?
Eve. From the Bible. Or a Moomintroll.
Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?
Yes I have! I worked at a bakery/cafe in Brooklyn when I was just out of college, and while there was indeed a morning rush, there would be a lull before lunch, and when there were no more tasks to be done, I’d read a book. The manager didn’t think it was a good look for the business that passers-by might glance through our window and see me (the barista) reading. I silently disagreed — and also maybe not silently? And I really remember that I actually did think it was a “good look,” and I’d be like, “What if someone looked in and saw me reading this right now and thought THERE SHE IS! THE GIRL FOR THE MOVIE I WANT TO MAKE, THE MOVIE STARRING A GIRL JUST LIKE THAT REAL GIRL RIGHT THERE!” Eventually I quit, because even if people had seen me through the window, nobody wanted anything from me but coffee and croissants. The manager called me a week later and left a message that said something like, “You left your book here. You’re welcome to come get it, but I’d also be happy to throw it out for you.”
You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Lore Segal, Grace Paley, Ron Slate. Basically the two writers who seem like my literary nana-angels and then, of course, my dad. Bring on the chopped liver. Not to be greedy, but please have Leonora Carrington arrive with a surprise dessert, and make it that she brought Maira Kalman, and that they stay and do the dishes with me for a long time.
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