What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?
The late Carolyn See wrote unique novels that were always surprising and somewhat deranged — in the best way. I wish more readers would rediscover the vicious mother-daughter relationship in “Rhine Maidens.” It’s 1970s California (and Coalinga, Calif., no less!), which is basically catnip for me.
Which writers — novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, poets — working today do you admire most?
Margaret Atwood, Rachel Aviv, Brit Bennett, Anne Carson, Dan Chaon, Ted Chiang, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Gillian Flynn, Angela Garbes, Katherine Heiny, Michelle Huneven, Samantha Irby, Edward P. Jones, Patrick Radden Keefe, Lydia Kiesling, Laura Lippman, Attica Locke, Ling Ma, Wesley Morris, Sharon Olds, Parul Sehgal, George Saunders, Danzy Senna, Diane Seuss, Dana Spiotta, Susan Straight, Jia Tolentino, Charles Yu … oh, I could go on!
What do you read when you’re working on a book? And what kind of reading do you avoid while writing?
Since a single book takes me years to write, I can’t imagine altering my reading drastically. That said, I try to avoid anything that resembles the content of my book project. When I was working on “California,” for instance, I avoided postapocalyptic stories, and when I was writing “Time’s Mouth” I stayed away from time travel and cult narratives. I don’t want to accidentally crib someone else’s book!
