Tom Rusch started hanging out at the library in the small town he grew up in, then got a job in the library while he was in college. As a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, he worked for the Lutheran Student Center at the University of Minnesota to fulfill his two-year "military" obligation and also worked at an independent bookstore, where he stayed 10 years. He became a sales rep for S&S in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North and South Dakota; then he moved to Boston and worked for Houghton Mifflin in its Boston offices. He liked the road better than an office, so moved to Southern California for Morrow and then Little, Brown. Currently he does sales and marketing for Los Angeles publisher Silman-James Press and sells commission lines with Frank McCormick and Associates. Over the years he's accumulated about 10,000 books. At first he thought he'd be able to read them, then decided he'd better say he's a "collectible book dealer" to account for the quantity, and now sells collectible books as Monroe Stahr Books. Here he pauses from selling and sorting to answer questions we ask of book people.
On your nightstand now:
White Dog by Peter Temple. Set in Melbourne, Australia, this is the fourth in a series featuring a part-time lawyer, Jack Irish, who between betting on fixed horse races and doing some woodwork gets involved in solving crimes. Along with English author John Lawton, my current mystery author favorite.
This weekend I started reading Suze Rotolo's A Freewheelin' Time. As a Dylan fan, I had to hear her side of the relationship when he was just getting established in Greenwich Village.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The first book I remember is the Golden Books edition of The Little Engine That Could, read to me by my mother. In retrospect, an appropriate story to be read by my mother, a child of the Depression.
Your top five authors:
Edward Whittemore. A novelist whose books I try to reread every few years. His Jerusalem Quartet has a bit of magical realism, and I think gives a worthwhile insight to the reality of the current problems in the Middle East.
Dick Francis. His books are wonderful entertainment. And if I'd have to rationalize my enjoyment, I would say that Francis refracts the issues of the world at large through his smaller world of horse racing.
Nicolas Freeling. While writing in the crime/thriller field, Freeling gives a fascinating look into what was happening in Europe from the '60s through the end of the '90s.
Carroll and Garrett Graham. This duo wrote only a few novels, and my favorite is Queer People. Set in 1930s Hollywood, it gives a fascinating and original look at why many people wound up in the movies--not because they wanted to be stars, but because they were restless and had left their homes in small town America and were looking for a place that was compatible with their yearnings.
Michael Connelly. Having worked as a sales representative for a number of New York publishers, it's always fulfilling to read a first novel that strikes you as both revelatory and entertaining. For me Connelly's first novel, The Black Echo, was just such a book. And with each succeeding title, Connelly has built upon that initial exposition.
Book you've faked reading:
Proust's Rememberance of Things Past.
Book you are an evangelist for:
Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet and Queer People. And recently John Lawton's novels featuring the character Frederick Troy.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Most of my purchases are based on reviews I've read, but I have found myself picking up used books with suggestive Hollywood covers, including some '70s smut, and books that feature a Buddha on the cover.
Book that changed your life:
Although I haven't read it for years, I had a religious upbringing, and reading the Bible was enlightening in my adolescence. While I got the black-and-white version of life in Sunday School and church, reading the Bible told me that there was a lot of gray in the world.
Favorite line from a book:
"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."--Raymond Chandler in Red Wind.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Probably Jack Kerouac's On the Road. A restless small town guy wants to investigate the larger world and drives across the United States. Who can't relate to that?
What would you like to see American publishers do more of:
While I admit a bias towards reading American authors, I'm always pleased when I encounter a writer from another country who can transport me or expand my thinking. One Hundred Years of Solitude was one of those books, when I read it during the '70s as an Avon paperback; Avon's whole series of Latin American/Spanish novels back then was wonderful.
More recently publishers have issued translations of mysteries from places like Norway, Sweden, Russia and Japan. While not all of them have been to my taste, I love the opportunity to see what non-English speaking writers have to say about life and love, anxiety and joy. The mystery genre is one I frequent, and it's fascinating to see how authors in other countries rebuild and recharge it.