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Eric Rickstad is the author of the Canaan Crime series, which includes The Names of Dead Girls, The Silent Girls, and Lie in Wait. His novel I Am Not Who You Think I Am was a New York Times Thriller of the Year, and his debut, Reap, was a New York Times Noteworthy Novel. He lives in Vermont with his wife, son, and daughter, and writes all his first drafts with a pencil in notebooks, often while in the woods. His new novel, Lilith (just out from Blackstone Publishing) strikes straight at the wounded heart of America.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
A mother whose son suffers traumatic injuries in a school shooting has had enough of cowardly men in power and strikes back. Hard.
On your nightstand now:
From Doon with Death by Ruth Rendell. A classic. What a debut.
The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard. A slow, deliberate burn that I love. I appreciate the exploration of what we know and what we believe.
Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir by Werner Herzog. Sublime telling of the life of one of the most creative, adventurous, and singular filmmakers of all time. It is all I hoped, and more.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Danny, Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. God, how I loved the adventure of this boy and his father, living in the caravan and poaching pheasants from the wealthy estate by putting sleeping powder in raisins. All of Dahl's wit, humor, social skewering and imagination are on full display.
Your top five authors:
It changes weekly. Right now.
Ted Chiang. His short stories are impeccable.
Werner Herzog. The man can write, too.
Annie Proulx. That humor. That eye. That empathy. That language.
Ray Bradbury. Prescient and human and humane. What a tale teller.
Toni Morrison. She could have written Sula and called it a career. She did not. Novel after novel. Sorely missed.
Book you've faked reading:
I haven't faked reading a book. But I've enjoyed immensely avoiding zeitgeist books and authors other readers try to foist on me.
Book you're an evangelist for:
The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake by Breece Pancake.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Hmmm. Not sure. But I can say that I love the cover of Rachel Howzell Hall's newest, The Last One. What a beauty.
Book you hid from your parents:
I never had to do that, fortunately. My mom was a big storyteller and reader.
Book that changed your life:
Roald Dahl's books. They woke me up to possibilities.
Lord of the Flies. Oh, Piggy. You didn't deserve that.
Favorite line from a book:
"Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains." --from The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Devastating.
Five books you'll never part with:
I've parted with all of my favorite books because I cannot help but give them away to share my enthusiasm for them. But five I keep buying again and again:
Sula, Toni Morrison
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
Jesus' Son, Denis Johnson
Poe's Short Stories, Edgar Allan Poe
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Danny, Champion of the World.