Borrowing an idea from the NTYBR, I asked Charlie Stella, one of my favorite writers and people, a few questions concerning his reading habits.
Charlie Stella is a former window cleaner/word
processor/knockaround guy. He left his knockaround life after meeting
his wife (for whom he wrote his first published novel in an attempt to
impress her). He’s since written eight critically acclaimed crime novels
about the New York City underworld that feature recurring characters on
both sides of the law.
Johnny Porno was his first venture into the
past as it takes place in 1973 when the New York mob was at the height
of its power, disco was king and the business of pornography was about
to explode across America after a New York City criminal court banned
the most famous of all porn flicks, DEEP THROAT.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
What books are currently on your nightstand?
I’m reading Breathing Lessons,
by Anne Tyler right now, but the non-fiction book about Alan Turing (Unlocking the Enigma) is in the on-deck
circle. I just finished reading 3 by Tyler and 1 by Laura Lippman (reviewed
last week on my blog). I’ve been reading a lot of female authors this year, but
it all goes back to one of my favorites, someone Patti originally recommended to
me, Bonnie Jo Campbell. I’m enjoying and observing the contrasts between them
all.
Who is your all-time
favorite novelist?
Richard Yates.
What book might we be
surprised to find on your shelves?
Thank You For Smoking,
Christopher Buckley (had to search hard through my bookshelves for this one)
Who is your favorite
fictional hero?
Tom Joad
What book do you most
often return to?
Used to be The Friends
of Eddie Coyle, but now it’s Revolutionary
Road.
7 comments:
I always enjoy learning from what other people have on their shelves :-).
I love those NYTBR interviews! You should do more of these on your blog! I would have never guessed Charlie Stella's favorite writer was Richard Yates.
Thanks Patti, really interesting. I've only read one of his books so far but reallyliked it - cheers!
Hoping to do one a week. Send me your answers at aa2579@wayne.edu
Hard to see the books on Charlie's shelves for all the Buffalo Bills bubbleheads, though.
Interesting. Very different tastes/experiences from mine.
I love these type of questionnaires. You really get an insight into the writer. I even like the Proust Questionnaire that runs in Vanity Fair--although sometimes those answers get a little too cute.
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