Deborah Baker's The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism (Graywolf
Press, May 10, 2011), tells the story of Margaret Marcus, who was raised
in suburban Larchmont, N.Y., became fascinated with Islam and moved to Pakistan in
1962, and, as Maryam Jameela, became one of the major voices of Islamic
revivalism. Baker's previous books include the Pulitzer-shortlisted In Extremis: The Life of Laura Riding and A Blue Hand: The Beats in India. She and her
husband, the writer Amitav Ghosh, divides their time between Goa, India, and
Brooklyn.
On your nightstand now:
Eldest Son: Zhou Enlai and the Making of Modern China by Han Suyin, Shah of Shahs by Ryzard Kapuscinski and Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan by Edmund Morris. I don't generally read political biographies, but these books are so well written and imaginatively conceived that it is like reading a slew of historical epics.
Favorite book when you were a child:
When I was eight, my family moved from rural Virginia to a high-rise in suburban San Juan. I had the odd idea that this vast building was exactly like the one Harriet, of Harriet the Spy, lived in, in New York City. For a time I assumed her spy outfit; notebook, sunglasses without the lens, striped knee socks, flashlight attached to belt and a sorry looking hat. I imagined that in this get-up I would be invisible.
Your top five authors:
I tend to have only one top author at a time: Beatrix Potter, Ernest Thompson Seton and James Thurber were early ones; Faulkner, Woolf and Dostoyevsky came later; and, skipping way ahead, there's my present flame, Orhan Pamuk.
Book you've faked reading:
Usually the one everyone is talking about.
Book you're an evangelist for:
The Forbidden Experiment: The Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron by Roger Shattuck. A feral child is captured while rooting around in a 19th-century vegetable garden and ends up being studied by a French philosopher. You could not make this up.
Book you've bought for the cover title:
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.
Book that changed your life:
Selected Poems by Laura Riding. I was besotted by Riding's poetry in college and then put aside poetry altogether to focus on making a sober living. Seven years later, I stumbled upon this Norton edition in my boss's bookcase and fantasized quitting my unhappy job to write her biography. Instead, the week I finished the proposal, I was fired.
Favorite opening line from a book:
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Four shots ripped into my groin and I was off on the greatest adventure
of my life...."--from Sleep Til Noon
by Max Shulman
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Pride and Prejudice. Sigh.