Introducing
‘By the Book’
By Pamela Paul
At his book signings and readings, David Sedaris, the author of many
best-selling books, frequently promotes the work of other writers, telling
audience members what he’s been reading recently and heartily recommends.
We decided we wanted to know more. (Like
what book he hates, for example, and what books really make him laugh.)
Illustration by
Jillian TamakiDavid Sedaris
Today the Book Review introduces
a new feature, By the Book, and our first subjct, David Sedaris. Each week the Book Review will profile a prominent or up-and-coming
public figure through the books he or she reads. We’ll cover not only writers
but also other noteworthy figures, whether artist, politician, journalist,
business leader, musician or actor. Really, we want to know what books the
people we’re interested in — and we think will fascinate our readers — are
reading.
We’ll ask the expected
high-minded questions about favorite novels, greatest living authors and the
books remembered most from childhood. We’ll ask writers about the way they
write, and about how what they read influences that process. But we also ask
the questions other people don’t: Do they read e-books or print? Collect books
or throw them away? What books are they embarrassed to have never finished
reading? What’s their guilty pleasure?
And we plan to mix things up.
Who wouldn’t want to have a former secretary of state pick the best book on
diplomacy? Or a musician name his favorite rock ‘n’ roll novel? Or a writer who
has written dozens of best sellers choose her favorite among them?
As important as we believe
book reviews are, we know that for many avid readers the most powerful
recommendations come via word of mouth. We hope that in the coming weeks you’ll
enjoy finding out what books some of the most exciting people working in
literature, the arts and other areas of public life recommend to their friends.
Or which books they wish they
could read. In Sedaris’s case, what he’d really like to get hold of is “a
concise, non-hysterical biography of Michael Jackson.” Aspiring authors, take
note.
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