By the Book
Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Sixty-five of the world's leading writers open up about the books and authors that have meant the most to them
Every Sunday, readers of The New York Times Book Review turn with anticipation to see which novelist, historian, short story writer, or artist will be the subject of the popular By the Book feature. These wide-ranging interviews are conducted by Pamela Paul, the editor of the Book Review, and here she brings together sixty-five of the most intriguing and fascinating exchanges, featuring personalities as varied as David Sedaris, Hilary Mantel, Michael Chabon, Khaled Hosseini, Anne Lamott, and James Patterson. The questions and answers admit us into the private worlds of these authors, as they reflect on their work habits, reading preferences, inspirations, pet peeves, and recommendations.
By the Book contains the full uncut interviews, offering a range of experiences and observations that deepens readers' understanding of the literary sensibility and the writing process. It also features dozens of sidebars that reveal the commonalities and conflicts among the participants, underscoring those influences that are truly universal and those that remain matters of individual taste.
For the devoted reader, By the Book is a way to invite sixty-five of the most interesting guests into your world. It's a book party not to be missed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In By the Book interviews collected by New York Times Book Review editor Paul (Parenting, Inc.), 65 writers including Junot D az, Lena Dunham, Colin Powell, Anne Lamott, and Khaled Hosseini discuss books they've found inspiring or terrible, as well as their reading habits and recommendations. The variety of responses and respondents make for a captivating hodgepodge of literary musings, with illustrations provided by Jillian Tamaki. Gems include Neil Gaiman's plug for Harry Stephen Keeler (the "greatest bad writer America has ever produced"), and John Grisham's recommendation that President Obama read Fifty Shades of Grey, because "Why should he miss all the fun?" Authors speak to and about one another across the pages: Malcolm Gladwell and Dave Barry sing the praises of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels, and Colin Powell and Arnold Schwarzenegger both admire J.K. Rowling's success. (For those truly dedicated to literary socializing, Gary Shteyngart lists over 40 of his favorite authors' Twitter handles.) Sidebars throughout feature excerpted responses from multiple authors on the same questions, and, while this creates an unfortunate sense of d j vu upon encountering the same material in the full interviews, it's illuminating to see what these writers consider "guilty pleasure" reading, or discover that very few actually get Ulysses. 65 line drawings.
