On your nightstand now:
The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence by Martin Meredith. A real horror show of strongman rule, which puts the democratic struggles of much of the continent in perspective.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Peanuts cartoons and The Prince of Central Park by Evan Rhodes. Escapism was all for me.
Your top five authors:
Elizabeth Bishop, Marcel Proust, Denis Johnson, William Shakespeare, Hunter S. Thompson.
Book you've faked reading:
The Bible. I'm always impressed with non-religious people who can quote scripture at will. I've never had the patience to wade through. I have the James Earl Jones audio version on CD, and if I ever get trapped in a blizzard in my car, I'll listen to it.
Book you are an evangelist for:
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust, translated by Lydia Davis. A deeply enjoyable reading experience.
Book you've bought for the cover:
How to Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone by Yourself by Robert Paul Smith. This 1958 book shows a boy, maybe nine or ten, throwing a penknife. Paul Collins wrote a piece for Tin House about the whimsical book, and I tracked it down, the cover selling me.
Book that changed your life:
Two books read back-to-back when I was a teenager: Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas introduced me to the idea of American righteous indignation, delivered with humor and very personal points of view.
Favorite line from a book:
"I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth."--Faulkner, from As I Lay Dying
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Every time you read it there is more revelation, whether it is character or simply an amazing sentence, so it is almost like reading it again for the first time.