Roxane Gay: By the Book

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/books/review/roxane-gay-by-the-book.html

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The author, most recently, of “Difficult Women” on what moves her in literature: “Basically, I love reading things that make me feel the same way I feel when listening to Beyoncé — slayed.”

What books are on your night stand now?

They aren’t necessarily on my night stand, but the books I am reading or threatening to read right now are: “I’m Judging You,” by Luvvie Ajayi; “Made for Love,” by Alissa Nutting, which is out next year; “The Fireman,” by Joe Hill; “Swing Time,” by Zadie Smith; “All the Birds in the Sky,” by Charlie Jane Anders; “Black Water Rising,” by Attica Locke; “The Wangs vs. the World,” by Jade Chang; “Thrill Me,” by Benjamin Percy; and “The Sympathizer,” by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

What’s the last great book you read?

“Commonwealth,” by Ann Patchett. She is one of my favorite writers, and I loved the ambitious, almost too ambitious, narrative structure of the novel and these little worlds she kept building and tearing down to move the story forward. The book is also set in Los Angeles, one of my favorite cities.

What’s the best classic novel you recently read for the first time?

I want to say something impressive here, but I cannot remember the last time I read a classic novel, let alone one that would rate as “the best.” Oh, I suppose I’ve read “Anna Karenina” in the last decade. That was a great book — DRAMA for days.

What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?

I came up in the small-press world, so a lot of my favorite books have come from micropresses — books with runs of 25 or 75, rarely more. Anyway, one of my favorite books few people have heard of is “I Am a Magical Teenage Princess,” by Luke Geddes. It’s this amazing collection of short stories that is sharp and dark and mostly about teenage girls. The highlight is the story “Betty and Veronica,” about the Archie Comics characters as lovers in a high school. I will reread that story every chance I get. It’s amazing and also so sexy.

What do you like to read for solace or comfort? For inspiration?

When the world is too much, I love to read thrillers and romance novels. I just want to lose myself in something either intriguing or ludicrously romantic. For inspiration, I go back to my favorite books, the ones I wish I had written. This seems sufficiently vague given that I haven’t listed any titles. My No. 1 go-to book is “The Age of Innocence,” by Edith Wharton.

Which writers — novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, poets — working today do you admire most?

I love Zadie Smith; Emily Nussbaum; Marcy Dermansky; Lily Hoang; xTx, Dana Johnson; Alexander Chee; Terry McMillan; Toni Morrison; Celeste Ng; Claudia Rankine; Saeed Jones; Rickey Laurentiis; Robin Coste Lewis; Lindsay Hunter; Cynthia Bond; Elisa Gabbert; Cristina Henríquez; Jesmyn Ward; Laura Lippman; Eduardo Corral; Alissa Nutting; Meg Wolitzer; Randa Jarrar; Alicia Erian; Catherine Chung; and Vanessa Veselka, to name a few.

What do you read when you’re working on a book? And what kind of reading do you avoid while writing?

I read books I aspire toward in my own writing and books that capture the tenor of what I’m going for in a given project. I don’t really avoid much of anything.

What moves you most in a work of literature?

I love when I read something that feels like the writer has taken a blade to my chest and cut my heart out. Basically, I love reading things that make me feel the same way I feel when listening to Beyoncé — slayed.

Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?

I love literary fiction so long as it is not about (a) writers, (b) sad white people in sad marriages or (c) sad white writers in bad marriages. I know literary fiction tends to lack plot, but I don’t care. I also love spy thrillers, novels about drug cartels, and the like. I read a fair amount of poetry. I work pretty hard to avoid self-help books. I’m beyond the kind of redemption offered by those books.

How do you like to read? Paper or electronic? One book at a time or simultaneously? Morning or night?

I read both physical books and e-books with equal vigor. E-books are so great. I can have hundreds of books in the palm of my hand. That is so cool. I read multiple books at a time, and I read at all times of the day, whenever I can find a pocket of time.

What’s the last book that made you laugh out loud?

“China Rich Girlfriend,” by Kevin Kwan. Soapy and hilarious.

The last book that made you cry?

“Homegoing,” by Yaa Gyasi; and the brutality of what her characters endured made me sob. The history of this world is a bloody wound.

The last book that made you furious?

“Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond. My God, what that book lays bare about American poverty. It is devastating and infuriating and a necessary read.

How do you organize your books?

My books are organized alphabetically. I want to find what I want when I want it.

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

The Vanessa Michael Munroe series by Taylor Stevens. They are so addictive! Also, Stevens made up a job title — informationist. I love the absurdity of it almost as much as I love Robert Langdon’s “symbology.” But seriously, the books are a fun read.

What’s the best book you’ve ever received as a gift?

A signed copy of Ina Garten’s “Make It Ahead” cookbook. Ina is a goddess.

Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your favorite antihero or villain?

I have a real soft spot for Dirk Pitt from the Clive Cussler books when he still wrote them himself. Dirk is this amazing, handsome, brash, adventurous guy who loves the ocean and cars and his sidekick Al Giordino. And he just always knows what he needs to know exactly when he knows it. He wouldn’t get kicked out of bed is all I’m saying. And in the books, he doesn’t get kicked out of bed.

My favorite villain is Annie Wilkes in Stephen King’s “Misery.” She was certainly . . . committed. You have to admire that. And I also recognize that beneath her pathology, she was just lonely. I understand what loneliness can make a woman do.

What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?

I was a voracious reader as a child. Books were my escape and my salvation from being a nerdy little loser. The “Little House on the Prairie” books were certainly the most formative books for me. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on, and my parents did not censor my reading at all, so I also have fond memories of “The Clan of the Cave Bear” and the like. Things happened on pelts that blew my young mind.

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

Frankly, President Obama is well read and wouldn’t have needed my advice, though, vainly, I would love if he read something I wrote.

I would require the new president to read, well, any book at all, because he does not give the impression he has ever read a book. I’d offer recommendations, but anything I might suggest is well beyond his reading level. Alas.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

Edith Wharton, Zadie Smith and Samantha Irby. Oh, what a night we would have.

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

I cannot handle the “My Struggle” books by Knausgaard. I struggle with them. I struggle mightily.

The last book I put down without finishing (though I do hope to get back to it someday) is “Everybody’s Fool,” by Richard Russo. I am a huge fan of Russo — “Straight Man” and “Nobody’s Fool” are two of my favorite books, but the latest one just didn’t grab me.

Whom would you want to write your life story?

Zadie Smith. I seem like a stalker now, but she is such a great writer. My life would be in good hands with her.

What do you plan to read next?

Next up: “Lazaretto,” by Diane McKinney-Whetstone, and “The Stand,” by Stephen King.