By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review edited by Pamela Paul

By Kate Phillips

 

          We all want to know more about our favorite authors and writers. What inspires them? What are they reading? What books don’t they like? Who are their literary idols? Which authors would they invite to a dinner party? And which three books would they take to the proverbial deserted island?

          By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review Edited and with an Introduction by Pamela Paul, editor of the Book Review, answers these questions—and many more.

          Sixty-five authors, writers, and others with literary lives answer a variety of questions giving fans and other writers not only insights but reading recommendations. If you like a certain author, does it follow you will like whatever he or she reads? It’s fun to find out.

          I have read books and pieces by over half of the writers. Naturally, I read their interviews first.

I loved learning Pippi Longstocking inspired Anne Lamott to become a writer. (However, Amy Tan found Pippi too cheerful.) And that A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, changed Lamott’s life. (Mine, too.) It’s also Dan Brown’s favorite book of all time. He highly recommends What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell who highly recommends Lee Child who plans on reading Emma by Jane Austen next. (That surprised me.)

          I have not read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, but her favorite childhood character is Meg Murray, the heroine of A Wrinkle in Time. Sandberg highly recommends books by Michael Lewis, as does Malcolm Gladwell, and she most wants to meet JK Rowling—whose book The Cuckoo’s Calling Gladwell chose not to finish.

          This book is a great version of “Six Degrees” usually of Kevin Bacon, but this time with writers.

          I also like knowing more about where others write. However, only four writers had their answers published:

Carl Hiaasen: The first thing you see outside my office is a doormat that says: LEAVE…Inside, my so-called work space looks like it got tossed by burglars. (page 26)

John Irving’s description on page 31 sounds to be the most efficient and comfortable with two tables, a computer in a far corner, a couch, and a chocolate Lab for company.

Sylvia Nasar’s office is very neat and colorful also with a Lab for company—see page 50.

And PJ O’Rourke’s is a mess—see page 102.

 

Some of the other writers included in this book are: David Sedaris, Neil Gaimen, Mary Higgins Clark, Colin Powell, Junot Diaz, John Grisham, Dave Barry, Katherine Boo, James McBride, Jhumpa Lahiri, Donna Tartt, Ann Patchett, Michael Connelly, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Chang-rae Lee, and dozens more.

While all of the answers to the following question were enlightening, this one made me laugh aloud:

If you could meet any character from literature, who would it be?

Isabel Allende: Zorro, of course. If possible, at night and in bed, with the mask but not the whip.

      

          Good to know--as are all the revelations and recommendations in By the Book.

 

Masterclass: The Quiet Center edited by Katherine Ball Ross

By Kate Phillips

 

        As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

        Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

 

        Please note this blog is based on a book written by women for women so I wrote it for women writers in particular.

       

        Most women are particularly busy this time of year: cooking, cleaning, decorating, providing hospitality to out-of-town visitors as well as hosting and attending parties on top of all our regular responsibilities—so much to do, so little time for ourselves.

        When do we have time to reflect and write? Never mind entering the Novel in a Month event. By the way, I have never understood why November was chosen as the month for the Novel in a Month project. Writers don't need any more pressure this time of year. March makes much more sense—no holidays to prepare for, muddy outside so better to be inside, and 31 days long so more time to write.

        But I digress.

        If you have a moment to read at any time, pick up a copy of The Quiet Center: Women Reflecting on Life's Passages from the Pages of Victoria Magazine edited by Katherine Ball Ross. Noted writers including Diane Ackerman, Madeleine L'Engle, Jane Smiley, and many others share their thoughts about Childhood, Motherhood, Grandmothers, Sisters, Places of the Heart, Rituals, In the Company of the Past, On Writing and Writers, and The Quiet Center of One's Life.

        These essays are a delight to read. They bring back our memories even as we read about other writers' lives. We can write essays of our own in answers to theirs—a wonderful communal activity.

        In Suzanne Berne's essay "The Gift of Memory" on page 36, she writes, "Nostalgia, after all, is our remembrance of focused attention, our romance with the particular. Without the odd glimmering detail, childhood would be a faded blur, lost to us…"

        Doesn't that make you want to rush to pick up your pen or sit at your keyboard and write down the glimmering details of your own childhood before they fade?

For writers, this quote jumps out in Marian Seldes essay on page 304:

        An older writer, Sarah Jewett, advised the young Willa [Cather], "you must find your own quiet center of life, and write from that to the world that holds others, and all of society, all Bohemia; the city, the country—in short you must write to the human heart."

        Brilliant advice given to a talented writer who wrote short stories, poetry, essays, nonfiction, and novels; Cather won a Pulitzer Prize.

        Patricia O'Toole's essay, "The Romance of Old Books," on page 322 sums up every avid reader's greatest joy. "Happening onto a favorite story is like an unexpected encounter with a friend too long unseen: You seize your good fortune and make time for each other. The rest of the world must wait."

        I first read this book about a decade ago. A reader of this blog asked my opinion of it and I'm so thankful she did. The Quiet Center is a timeless classic that should be reread often. It's inspiring. It's comforting. It's a kindred collection of essays I recommend that 'you make time for and let the rest of the world wait.'

 

What books do you make time for?