- Alice Hoffman lives with her dog Shelby, who is named after the heroine in her novel Faithful. It took Hoffman 10 years to write Faithful..."I wrote Faithful over a period of ten years, and when I was finally finished I missed Shelby. Because I didn't have a daughter, or a mother, or as a sister, I made do with the next best thing. A sheepdog! And I named her Shelby."
- If you were to name a dog or cat after a character in a novel, what would you chose? For myself, I would name a dog Olive (after the dog in the Vivian Walsh children's books). But for cats, I have always wanted an Arugula and Garbanzo.
- If Alice Hoffman hosted a dinner party...."I know exactly who I would invite, the living and the dead. Toni Morrison, the greatest living writer, author of Beloved, which may be the most moving and beautiful novel of the century, whose Norton Lectures at Harvard I was privileged to hear not long ago. The wonderful Penelope Lively, author of brilliant novels about memory and desire, whose excellent prose I can read over and over again, and who I met, too briefly, at her house in London. Emily Dickinson, the greatest poet, collector of wildflowers, secret-keeper, unknown to all. Emily Bronte, the author of the greatest psychological novel of all time, Wuthering Heights,, and my favorite writer. Elizabeth Strout, a master storyteller whose characters are illuminated by her ability to understand each one."
- Who would you invite to a fantasy dinner party? Would you invite authors? Would you invite favorite characters from books? I would talk with Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra Bryon Katie and Marianne Williamson; or, would I surround myself with Mr. Darcy, Captain Alex Randal and Rhett Butler......
- What would Alice Hoffman serve at her fantasy dinner party......"I'll stock up on wine, tea, vodka and tonic , strawberries, cakes of all sorts. I'd set the table with my mother's best china, which neither my mother nor I have ever used, and then I'd call and order pizza, because frankly I wouldn't spend any time on the food. I'd want to use all the time I had for talk, or rather, for listening. I want to hear every word these amazing writers had to say, and even though pizza is my favorite food in all the world, I expect I wouldn't eat a bite."
- What would you serve at a fantasy dinner party? I immediately think of chocolate, and finger foods, appetizers and tea cakes, coffee and tea, perhaps wine and cheese.... but definitely lots of chocolate selections....
- What books would Alice Hoffman take with her if abandoned on an island.......
- Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
- Beloved, Toni Morrison
- Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
- The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
- Grimm's complete Fairytales
- Edward Eager's Magic Series, especially Half Magic
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
- The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
- The Metamorphosis, Frank Kafka
- Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Anne Tyler
- The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank.
- What books would bring you pack if stranded on a island.... (Would I bring those favored books that I always wanted to re-read someday......or would I bring that stack of newcomers that I've always wanted to read.........would it take being stranded on an island to finally have the uninterrupted time to read and ponder.........)
- Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
What I have learned about Alice Hoffman by reading her blog.......
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AuthorMy name is Melinda Grix -Adult Services Librarian at the Clarkston Independence District Library - facilitating our Morning Book Discussions since 2007. You will find me in the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Archives
November 2018
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