Tom Perrotta discussed his new novel, “Ghost Town” with our colleague Michael Schaub, and here he takes the Book Pages Q&A.
Q: Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been telling people to read “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff. It’s a truly wonderful book, funny and profound at the same time, a rare combination.
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Q: How do you decide what to read next?
It varies. Sometimes a review sparks my interest, sometimes a recommendation from a friend, sometimes a book cover calls out to me while I’m browsing in a bookstore.
Q: Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
I’m sure I read some wonderful books in my early childhood, but the first one I can recall is “Strange but True Football Stories,” a book with no author — according to the cover, it was “compiled” by Zander Hollander — which I must have read when I was 10 or 11. Some of those strange but true stories are still stuck in my head after all these years.
Q: Do you have a favorite book or books?
I’m a fickle fan. In high school, I was a “Lord of the Rings” guy. In college, I would have said “Anna Karenina.” In grad school, it was “The Stories of Flannery O’Connor.” At this point in my reading life, I couldn’t choose a favorite book any more than I could name the best meal I ever ate, or the best song I ever heard. I guess that’s a way of saying the world is full of wonders.
Q: Which books do you plan, or hope, to read next?
I keep saying I’m going to read Proust over the summer. And then summer rolls around, and Proust seems like a writer to read over the winter.
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Q: Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life — a teacher, a parent, a librarian, or someone else?
I had so many great teachers who pressed books into my hands over the years, and I’m grateful to all of them, but my mother was the one who started it all. She believed that reading was the universal cure for boredom, and it’s one of those lessons I internalized as a kid that still structures my life today.
Q: If you could ask your readers something, what would it be?
I think I’ll just let them read in peace.
Check out Tom Perrotta’s interview here.