“Happy digging” is how the author of “Holes” signs books for his fans. In an email interview, he talked about Damon Runyon’s influence on his early style. SCOTT HELLER
What kind of reader were you as a child?
I read mostly sports or animal stories. Like a lot of kids, I kept a list of favorites. I remember a book about a cougar cub, “Yellow Eyes,” being at the top of the list.
Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine?
McMurphy from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Flawed, larger than life, yet still very real.
Your favorite antihero or villain?
Big Nurse, from the same novel, always excruciatingly calm, made the perfect adversary for the blusterous McMurphy.
What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
The 1939 Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., played a pivotal role in the novel “The Time of Our Singing,” by Richard Powers. I was surprised I had never heard of it, although given our country’s history, I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised.
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