1. If you could host a party with seven literary characters, whom would you invite and why?
I'd invite Georgie and Lucia so that they could play piano duets for us. Not to be outdone, Thea Kronborg would sing something gorgeous. Charles Swann would regale us with all the latest Parisian gossip. His wife Odette, despite her checkered past, would be a welcome addition. I'd want Thursday Next to tell us all about her fascinating work in Jurisfiction, and we'd need Kilgore Trout for some comic relief.
2. Who is your literary role model?
For writing: Jo March. For cooking: Fritz Brenner. For knitting: Molly Weasley. For gardening: Mary Lennox. For parenting: Uncle Alec and Atticus Finch.
3. Which literary house would you like most to live in?
4. Which literary couple would you like most for parents?
5. Pick three literary characters you would like to have as siblings.
Jem Finch, Ender Wiggin, and Joey Pepper. Joey would be the oldest; he'd be so exhausting to parent that Dr. and Dr. Murry would be very relaxed when it came to the rest of us. Jem would be second, the ideal older brother and adventurous companion. I'd be next (the pampered and petted only girl), and Ender would be the brilliant baby who went on to save the universe.
6. Who is your favorite literary villain?
Richard III. We just saw the play at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. I worried that I wouldn't love this production, because the last time I saw it, Ian McKellan played Richard at BAM (years ago, before the movie came out). Sir Ian is a hard act to follow.
It turns out my worries were unfounded. Chris Edwards was fabulous as Richard. Shakespeare totally understood the concept of the hot bad boy, and Mr. Edwards made the very most of his character. Delish.
7. Name a character that most people dislike, but that you do not. Why do you like him/her?
Poor Fagin. He's just trying to get by. He finds those homeless kids on the streets, gives them life skills, feeds them, and shelters them. What--he can't be rewarded for all his selfless work?
8. Which minor character deserves a book of his/her own, in your opinion?
Phoebe Caulfield. I'd love to read about her brother through her eyes, and what it was that kept her from sharing his feelings of alienation and despair. I've read everything Salinger has ever published, and I still want more. Here's your chance to come out of seclusion, J.D.!
9. Which character do you identify most with in literature?
Elizabeth Shulman. She's a woman devoted to her family, religion, and culture who finds a way to define herself as an individual while remaining true to her ideals. I wish she lived next door.
10. If you could go into a novel, which one would it be and why?
So hard to choose! So I'll cheat instead. I'd adventure by day in The Lord of the Rings, but jump out and into Farmer Boy at mealtimes (including Second Breakfast). Whenever I read the descriptions of Mrs. Wilder's bounteous tables to my children, we all groan with desire and envy. I'd bed down in a comfy spot in Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, then wake up rested and ready to rejoin The Fellowship.
11. Name 3 - 7 books that you rarely see on people’s favorite book lists that are high on your own.
The Diamond in the Window, by Jane Langton
Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan
Roadside Geology of New York, by Bradford Van Diver
The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
Anna and Her Daughters, by D.E. Stevenson
12. Which is your least favorite book of those that are considered "classics?"
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Ugh, please make it stop.