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Is it possible to be a good writer without being a good reader? I doubt it, but I’m open to the possibility. That might be an effective way to get a fresh, enlivening take on writing or on a genre. According to a report of the Independent Book Publishing Association, over five million American adults belong to reading groups. What, do you believe, is the basis for this country's love for literature and books? Our lives are too short and too restricted to give us the chance to experience everything we’re interested in and meet all the kinds of people we’d like to meet. Books allow us to meet people and share experiences across time, space, culture, and gender. That’s valuable. And they take us out of our own lives when we need a break. Have you ever belonged to a reading group? Yes. I’ve been in several esoteric Christian or spiritual psychology reading groups. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one book with you to read, what would it be and why? The Bible, King James Version. It’s all there. If you could have dinner with three writers (dead or alive) who would they be and why? Dante, Shakespeare, and Chaucer. Those are the main guys as far as I’m concerned. They took big ideas and figured out how to place them into vernacular narratives. That’s the coolest. Have you ever read anything you're too embarrassed to admit (except in this interview)? Hundreds of romance novels. I’m especially embarrassed about the ones with vikings on the front, but I continue to read them and enjoy them when I’m exhausted and need to relax. I’m embarrassed about them because, although I’ve dated for 36 years, I’ve chosen to never marry. I don’t even believe in the fundamental premise of the romance novel. But it’s restful to hang out in that simplistic world when you know in advance it will turn out well. Favorite heroine in literature and why? Eowyn in Lord of the Rings. Favorite hero in literature and why? It’s hard to pick one: Bobby Shaftoe in Cryptonomicon. Dante and Virgil in The Divine Comedy. Shakespeare’s Henry V. Book that changed your life? All Creatures Great and Small made such a strong impression on me when I was 17 years old, I struggled hard to learn to write so I could eventually do my own version 30 years later. Words to live by? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
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