Okay, literary meme time

Via the lovely Natalia.

1) What author do you own the most books by?

Was gonna say Neil Gaiman or Shirley Jackson, or possibly Somerset Maugham; and then I realized, fuck me, I have all seven of the Harry Potter books…

2) What book do you own the most copies of?

I actually got rid of my duplicates in the last purge I think.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

What for?

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

…mind hazy, ask again later.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?

Probably “Of Human Bondage” by Somerset Maugham.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?

When I was -ten- I was reading the friggin Sweet Valley High series. srsly. I had better taste when I was five (The Wizard of Oz and so forth). uh besides that probably Harriet the Spy was up there.

7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

I don’t think I’ve completed anything that godawful in the past year. Life is short and so is my attention span.

8) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?

Collected essays by George Orwell, the one including “Politics and the English Language.”

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?

fuck if I know, I’m so not paying attention…

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

“Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell,” if they could actually do justice to it (I’m dubious)

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?

See above re: dubious.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.

Have dreamed at least once of writing a great story that of course I forgot once having woken. Not that weird, but deeply aggravating.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?

I’m going to have to go with the National Enquirer book about Michael Jackson (”Freak!”)

15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

I’d say “Ulysses” or “Gravity’s Rainbow,” but truth is I never read either completely through or even close. Can tell you all the dirty bits in both of them, though.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?

It was so obscure I’ve forgotten it.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?

The Russians. They’re funny even in their angst. Or especially. The French are just insufferable.

18) Roth or Updike?

…I guess Roth for “Portnoy’s Complaint,” but I’m not really interested in either.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

Not interested in either.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?

Shakespeare.

21) Austen or Eliot?

Austen.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?

A whole shitload of “classics” apparently. A lot of WoC writing I’ve been meaning to get to. Pretty much everything ever really.

23) What is your favorite novel?

Probably “American Gods” at the moment. Used to be “Of Human Bondage.”

24) Play?

Would’ve said “Angels in America” once, seen too many mediocre productions to still think so. “Skriker” by Churchill, maybe, although “favorite” isn’t exactly right.

25) Poem?

“The Queen of Wands” by Judy Grahn.

26) Essay?

“Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool” by Orwell. A couple by Joanna Russ from “To Write Like a Woman” come close.

27) Short story?

…can’t think of a “favorite” off the top. Some I’ve liked a bunch: “Bliss” by Katherine Mansfield, “Grail” by Neil Gaiman (actually quite a few by Gaiman), “Come Dance With Me In Ireland” by Shirley Jackson

28) Work of nonfiction?

Jon Ronson, “Them!” for the lulz

29) Who is your favorite writer?

Orwell or Joanna Russ for nonfiction, Gaiman currently for fiction.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

Judging by what little I’ve seen of his work, I guess I’d go with David Sedaris. I don’t get it.

31) What is your desert island book?

I’d be too busy freaking out to settle down with a book, sorry.

32) And… what are you reading right now?

Couple of books on leadership by Arnold Mindell, “Love Belongs To Those Who Do The Feeling” (Judy Grahn’s newish collection), Perdido Street Station finally, the latest “Angel” comic (shut up)

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