“I’m at an age where little embarrasses me,” he said in an email interview. As for fury: “I stop reading at mildly irritating.” SCOTT HELLER
What books are on your night stand?
I have a lamp and a CPAP machine on my night stand, so no space for books. My queen-size bed is divided into quadrants; I sleep in one, my two cats get one each, and one is for books. The cats tell me this is a fair arrangement. On the bed: Scholastique Mukasonga’s “Our Lady of the Nile” (finished); Horacio Castellano Moya’s “Senselessness” (reading); Patrick Ryan’s “Buckeye” (next); and Thomas Bernhard’s “Wittgenstein’s Nephew” (rereading soon, because his disgust with the world seems appropriate these days).
What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
Many. I read everything, particularly when I’m depressed. A good friend was shocked that I liked Janet Evanovich’s “One for the Money.”
Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine?
Cleopatra, of course. I was 15 when I read “Antony and Cleopatra.” I desperately wished for a gorgeous general who was willing to die for me and say, as he’s dying, “I am dying, Egypt, dying.” I’ve always wanted a lover who would consider me an entire country.
Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).
Ideally, somewhere with no internet or cell service. But really, I read anywhere. When I was 11, my cousins (all girls, all older) decided that I needed to stop reading and accompany them on a walk. There weren’t many cars driving the roads outside our mountain village in Lebanon, so we basically walked along the asphalt. When my cousins ahead of me weren’t paying attention, I returned to my book and got lost again in the story. I read as I walked. Suddenly, I banged my head. I’d walked under a parked truck and into one of its back lights. This is still a running joke in our family.
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