Jon Katz is a dog lover, as anyone knows who has read his books Dog Days: Dispatches from Bedlam Farm and A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and
Me,
which was made into an HBO film starring Jeff Bridges (to name just two). Katz's
latest book, aimed at young readers, is a combination photo essay and tribute
to his canine companions: Rose (whom fans will recognize as the workaholic
sheepdog from previous books), Frieda, Izzy and Lenore (the latter two starred
in their own book). Each has a job, and Katz keeps the suspense building about
Lenore's role to the penultimate page of Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm
(Holt/Macmillan, $16.99, 9780805092196, 32p., ages 4-8; April 26, 2011).
On your nightstand now:
Finn by John Clinch
Favorite book when you
were a child:
The Hardy Boys
Your top five authors:
I don't have five top authors. I love Gabriel García Marquez, John Updike, Eudora Welty, V.S. Naipaul, Barbara Kingsolver.
Book you've faked reading:
Plato
Book you are an evangelist for:
October Light by John Gardner
Book you've bought for the cover:
None that I can think of
Book that changed your life:
Thomas Merton's Run to the Mountain
Favorite line from a book:
"There is no greater glory than to die for love." --from Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Love in the Time of Cholera
Are reading and writing dying out?
No. Storytelling is being reborn. More people are reading more stories in more different forms than at any time in our literary history. Reading is being reborn.
How do you deal with rejection?
Rejection is as integral a part of the writing process as publication. It is inherent in almost every part of the process. Coping with rejection is as important as understanding language and storytelling form.