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Is it possible to be a good writer without being a good reader? No. Careful reading is a necessary if not sufficient condition to becoming a good writer. Of course, there is a danger of becoming too much an “analytical” reader—i.e., “Ah ha, I see what the writer is trying to do here, with the false lead, the foreshadowing … ”—and losing the ability to read for pleasure alone. I know a book has really captured me when I find myself slipping from analysis into the story itself. I’m delighted when that happens. 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? Frankly, I wish the number was three times that. Imagine if a report came out that said, “Five million Americans watch prime-time TV on any given night. The rest read.” Wow, wouldn’t that be great! But to the five million who do belong to book groups, writers owe thanks. I think the basis of a love for literature has to come from the home and from the schools that encourage reading and critical thinking. Have you ever belonged to a reading group? Not to a reading group exclusively, but I’ve belonged to writing groups that choose books to discuss as a part of the workshops. What advice do you have for reading group members when it comes to selecting books for discussion? Take chances. Give yourselves permission to experiment, to roam far and wide, but also to put a book aside when it fails to intrigue you and go on to the next. Part of the fun of reading and discussing in a group is the surprise of diverse opinions and insights. What books are you reading now or do you plan to read? Currently in the stack beside my reading chair is a mix of old and new: My Antonia by Willam Cather, As I Lay Dying by Faulkner, No Country for Old Men by Cormac Mccarthy (I skipped over it to get to The Road), The Diezmo and The Lives of Rocks by Rick Bass, The Judas Field by Howard Bahr, and The Voice at 3:00 a.m.: Selected Late and New Poems by Charles Simic, the current U.S. poet laureate. It’s fun to read each of the laureate’s as they are appointed. On my planning list are Andrea Barrett’s The Air We Breathe, based on the strength of her last book, Servants of the Map, Ann Patchett’s Run, and a memoir by Stanley Kunitz, The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one book with you to read, what would it be and why? I would hate to have to make that choice. Probably it would be a collection of poetry, maybe the collected works of Robert Frost. Each poem contains a story in its most distilled form. I could take years filling in the spaces (i.e., Just why did that man stop by the woods on a snowy evening, and where was he off to in such a rush? What if that guy had taken the other road? … ). If you could have dinner with three writers (dead or alive) who would they be and why? Hemingway because, well, he’s Hemingway. James Joyce because I have tons of questions to ask him (such as, “What in the world were you thinking when you wrote … ?”). And Annie Proulx because I think she’s one of the best writers we have writing right now and because she strikes me as a person who could hold her own with Hemingway. (Joyce would be off by himself under a palm tree, musing.) Have you ever read anything you're too embarrassed to admit (except in this interview)? I’m more embarrassed by what I haven’t read than by what I have. So many books, so little time! Favorite book when you were a child? I remember Treasure Island, and, from a little later, Tolkien’s Rings Trilogy. If you have children, is this the same book you read to them? If not, what is your favorite book for your children? Yes, and to a pre-reader, I’d read Goodnight Moon each evening. (In fact, I did just that.) Favorite heroine in literature and why? Maybe Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird because she brought us the story. Favorite hero in literature and why? I have to admit I’m pretty partial to Gus McCrae in McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove because he represents the Western hero with flaws. Also Frodo Baggins for overcoming his temptations. Favorite first line from a book? Favorite line that I didn’t have to look up: “Call me Ishmael” because I’ve read that line maybe a dozen times and I’m embarrassed to say (see number 8 above) that I’ve not yet to reach the final line. Favorite line I had to look up: “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish,” from The Old Man and the Sea. I try to reread it every few years. Favorite last line from a book? I don’t remember so much a last line as I do the feeling I’m left with when I finish a great book. I loved the way I felt after Cry, the Beloved Country, like I had an obligation to force others to read this book. Also I loved the feeling I had after reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath, Plainsong, and All the Pretty Horses. Book that changed your life? No one book has been singly transformational, but several have had a cumulative impact. I remember reading One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest in one sitting in college and wondering what it might be like to be able to create something like that. Other books that remain firmly rooted in my (sub)consciousness, in addition to the ones mentioned above, are The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, The Cain Mutiny, Shipping News, Bird by Bird, the Gospels of the New Testament, and on and on … Words to live by? ”And so it goes;” ”Tempus fugit;” and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
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