"I knew this was going to be a book about reading, and probably since I first published
a novel - so my first novel came out close to 10 years ago - I knew I wanted to write such
a book. But I thought as a strategy it would be really interesting to describe people in
terms of what they read and how they read. I think you can do a lot, like, describing
people with their physical characteristics and things like that. But to me, I've always found
it to be a much more informative question to ask somebody what they read."
"I like to believe, as a writer, that anybody who isn't a reader yet has just not found the
right book." (Sue, our resident cat whisperer at the CIDLibrary, has always said that
until you have a relationship with the right cat, you won't become a cat lover.)
"We are at a moment in time when we are grappling with what I would
term "value" issues around book culture: print vs. digital, shopping
locally vs. online, etc. My original question might have been something
like, "What is the value of a bookstore to a community."
"But questions do tend to evolve and multiply as I write, so I
would add, "How do the stories we read help define our lives?""
Why did the Zevin decide to write from the male perspective?
"Because I couldn't imagine it any other way! A.J. Firkry always ran
Island Books, and he was a male! In truth, I like writing the male
point -of-view. Perhaps it's a vacation from myself. Perhaps, I thought I could get
away with more (A.J. is opinionated after all), if there was no chance anyone thought I
was writing myself."
And....
"The easiest part of writing Fikry might have been writing the end. I always had a
strong sense of what that should feel like emotionally for the reader."
Join the discussion June 1st as we explore questions and topics, as we share
insights and revelations......