What books are on your night stand?
I’m currently reading “Our Strangers,” by Lydia Davis. I love her work. I saw this in a small bookshop and I read on the jacket that it is only available in bookstores and not on Amazon, which I thought was great. Also on my night stand — “I Heard Her Call My Name,” by Lucy Sante, which I plan to read next. I’m a big fan. Full disclosure: We are friends.
How do you organize your books?
My library consists largely of art monographs, mostly grouped as I feel the works relate and connect to each other. For example, books on Alexander Calder are close to Joan Miró, because they were friends and they influenced each other.
How do you sign books for your fans?
People have come to expect a drawing at these signings, and it can be a little intimidating. I keep thinking that I’ll make a crappy drawing and ruin a book. I tried to find a workaround. At the beginning, I had a series of rubber stamps made that I would print with an ink pad then embellish a bit. At one signing someone insisted that I draw something, so I drew the face of the person asking. I stared at them while I drew without looking down at the page. The result was surprising and funny. It became this shared experience, like a participatory performance. After that, everyone wanted me to do the same thing.
Do you have a favorite book cover?
I love the cover of Rick Rubin’s book, “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.”
Favorite book designer?
Peter Mendelsund is a great book designer. When I was working on “Here” I was stumped on the cover. I didn’t know Peter at the time and I wrote to him cold asking if we could meet. I showed him a dummy of the book and he was so quick and clear about a direction. He said that considering it’s a story of what goes on inside a room, the jacket could be the outside of the house. It was so obvious, I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it myself!
Favorite graphic novel or novelist?
Olivier Schrauwen deserves a shout-out. He is such an original thinker and damn funny. His new book is called “Sunday.”
What’s the last great book you read?
“Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees,” by Lawrence Weschler, is brilliant, starting with the title. It’s about Robert Irwin, one of my favorite artists. Irwin’s approach was like a Zen monk, but a monk who grew up in Southern California, surfed, loved cars and won awards for swing dancing.
When you look back at “Here,” are there aspects you wish you’d done differently?
No. I think it stands up pretty well 10 years on. It’s been translated into over 20 languages and I’ve heard from readers who have had an emotional connection to it. What more could you ask for?
“The book feels like a song to me,” you said of “Here” in a New York Times podcast. What did you mean?
It started as a six-page story published in 1989. Ten years later I decided to develop and expand it into a book. I didn’t deliver it for another 14 years after that. It wasn’t that I was working on it the whole that time; I would get frustrated and put it away and other projects would take over. I started to doubt that it was worth developing, and it only came together when I began to think of it more as music. I put the pages on the wall of my studio and started to see it as a musical score and started to cut and paste and arrange it. It became kind of a fugue, with repeating themes and simultaneous melodies.
“Here” the movie reunites many key players behind “Forrest Gump,” including its director, screenwriter and lead actors. Can you recall the first time you saw that film?
I really don’t have any clear memory, other than that I enjoyed it. When I heard that Eric Roth was adapting my book I went back and watched the film again, and read the book. It’s actually much more over the top. I appreciated the work Roth had done to make it work as a film. It’s both funny and touching.
What role did you have in helping to shape the film?
None. I was asked if I wanted to be a consultant on it and I turned the offer down. I figured they knew what they were doing. I wanted to enjoy the experience of the film as an audience member.
What’s your favorite book that spans an enormous amount of time?
“Sapiens,” by Yuval Noah Harari.
A favorite that spans a very short amount of time?
“Novels in Three Lines,” by Félix Fénéon.
What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
That the roots of trees are all communicating, helping each other survive, from “The Hidden Life of Trees,” by Peter Wohlleben.
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