Rating: NNNNN
When you were young, was there a character in a book who you had a crush on? What about the character got you going?
Madame Chauchat in Thomas Manns The Magic Mountain. I admired how she always shut the door with a crash.
Jenny Erpenbeck, author of The Old Child & Other Stories, appearing October 23 and 26
Dr. Seuss’s Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. I liked the way he could fit all those other animals in that huge rack of his.
Alison Pick, author of The Sweet Edge, appearing October 26 and 29
Nancy Drew’s boy Ned. He was always there for her, cheering her on, saying all the right things. The more I think back, I’m not positive he even had much dialogue, which, of course, would make him even dreamier.
Lauren Weisberger, author of Everyone Worth Knowing, appearing October 29
Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind. Although it wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I realized what he’d done to Scarlett in bed might have included oral sex.
Candace Bushnell, author of Lipstick Jungle, appearing October 22
What is your current bathroom reading?
Poetry and a Buddhist tract. Clearly toilet time is my high-minded time.
Dorothy Porter, author of Wild Surmise, appearing October 25
Bathroom reading? Isn’t that a 50s concept?
Candace Bushnell, author of Lipstick Jungle, appearing October 22
I never read in the bathroom – it’s a boy thing, I think, and I always end up with soggy books.
Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth, appearing October 22
Yuck. Girls don’t have bathroom reading – they have bedroom reading. Before bedtime, I’m alternating between two great books, The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer and The Best Of Everything by Rona Jaffe.
Lauren Weisberger, author of Everyone Worth Knowing, appearing October 29
The complete unabridged works of William Shakespeare.
Will Ferguson, author of Hitching Rides with Buddha, appearing October 23
What about doing a reading do you like? Anything you dread?
The best thing about doing readings? The groupies. The worst thing? The fact that said groupies are entirely imaginary.
Will Ferguson, author of Hitching Rides with Buddha, appearing October 23
I like trying out various public-speaking strategies, like imagining all the audience members in their underwear.
Alison Pick, author of The Sweet Edge, appearing October 26 and 29
My favourite part is the Q&A. Although, just for the record, there will probably not be a Sex And The City movie.
Candace Bushnell, author of Lipstick Jungle, appearing October 22
