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| photo: Rico Schwartzberg | |
Mike Madrid is the author of The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines, an NPR "Best Book to Share with Your Friends" and American Library Association Amelia Bloomer Project Notable Book; and Divas, Dames & Daredevils: Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics, just published by Exterminating Angel Press. Madrid, a San Francisco native and lifelong fan of comic books and popular culture, also appears in the documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines.
On your nightstand now:
Atonement by Ian McEwan, various comic books, my iPad and a copy of The Vogue Bedside Book I found at the flea market a while back.
Favorite book when you were a child:
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. I was constantly checking it out from my grade school library. I love Greek mythology, and this is the book that got me started.
Your top five authors:
Because I grew up reading comic books, I tend to be a visual thinker. I like books that allow me to create movies in my head as I'm reading them, because of the depth that the author brings to the characters and the worlds they live in. Some of my favorites are E.F. Benson, Edith Wharton, Jeffrey Eugenides and Natsuo Kirino. For comic books, I love Jaime Hernandez's work on Love and Rockets. His characters are like friends I've grown up with over the past 30 years.
Book you've faked reading:
I don't actually fake reading books. However I did skim a copy of E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey that I found at my local library just to see what the big deal was.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos. Edith Wharton hailed it as "the Great American novel," and it is brilliant. It's one of those books that has to be read in the printed form to appreciate the artful use (or misuse) of language.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Too many to mention. I try to check out flea markets in whatever cities I travel to around the world. I'm always drawn to the books, especially when they have great covers. I've found some really good books over the years, particularly in the markets in Berlin. And books are easy to pack, which is a bonus.
Book that changed your life:
The Steranko History of Comics, Volumes 1 and 2. Those books ignited my interest in the early days of comic books and showed me how a nonfiction book could be written in a smart and entertaining style. Very inspirational to me.
Favorite line from a book:
"I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel." --from The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger. I'm still fascinated by the 20th century, and I love any book that really evokes an era.