Karen Joy Fowler (Wit's End, The Jane Austen Book Club, Sarah Canary) tell about her visit to a book group that has been in existence for 70 years and more... In this month's 1-On-One!

Is it possible to be a good writer without being a good reader?

Although this seems theoretically possible to me (like Bigfoot), I don’t think I’ve ever met the creature.   More to the point, I can’t see why anyone would want to write a book without loving books first.

Have you ever belonged to a reading group?

I belonged to the Avid Reader Book Group, organized by my local bookstore and open to any and everyone, for many years.  As a writer, I’ve been a guest at many many different book groups, including one that was over 70 years old where mothers passed their memberships on to their daughters. 

What advice do you have for reading groups when it comes to selecting books for discussion?

The books you love the most don’t always make for the most interesting discussions.  You want a book you can quarrel over and possibly come to blows.

And one of the advantages of a book club is that it takes you out of your comfort zone.  So choose books you wouldn’t otherwise be reading; don’t stick to the ones you’ll read anyway on your own.

What book(s) are you reading now or planning to read?

In the last couple of weeks I’ve read: The Love We Share without Knowing by Christopher Barzak, Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis, and a manuscript of an unsold novel by Susan Carpenter. The Barzak was beautiful, the Portis made me very very happy. It was recommended to me by the great writer Glen Gold, whose advice I will be taking on all future books. The manuscript was also wonderful, a lovely novel about the sixties and the student movement that someone should buy and publish soon. The Manikin by Joanna Scott is on the top of my pile now, though I have another Portis book on order, too.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one book with you to read, what would it be and why?

I would keep swimming until I found a deserted island with a library.  A shipwreck is no excuse for not maintaining some minimal standards.

If you could have dinner with 3 writers (dead or alive) who would they be and why?

Can I have them all at the same dinner?  If so, I choose Jane Austen and Mark Twain and I don’t care who the third one is as long as they don’t dominate the conversation.  I myself don’t plan to say a word.
 
Have you ever read anything you're too embarrassed to admit (except in this interview)?

I’m embarrassed to admit that nothing embarrasses me.

Favorite book when you were a child?

I was a great fan of a book called The Green Poodles by Charlotte Baker.  It had everything – orphans, villains, an old mystery, a litter of puppies, one of which was a cat.  I took it out of the library so many times that my parents bought me the book for Christmas.  And then, a couple months later, I took it out again, because the library copy seemed sad and abandoned on the shelves.

If you have children, is this the same book you read to them? If not, what is your favorite book for your children?

I didn’t read this book to my children.  I think since it hadn’t been read to me, it didn’t occur to me as a read-aloud.  But I read many many other books.  The Pink Motel, Blueberries for Sal, Mary Poppins, Kidnapped, Bunnicula.  Great stuff.  I tried to read The Hobbit, but Gollum was deeply frightening, especially with me doing his voice, and my children made me stop.  I tried to read Lassie Come Home, but it made me cry so hard I couldn’t continue.  I don’t think I ever got through the end of Charlotte’s Web either.

Favorite heroine in literature and why?

I love Flora Poste from Cold Comfort Farm.  She reminds me of Jane Austen’s Emma, only poor self-satisfied Emma is always wrong about everything while Flora Poste gets to be right all the time.  This is deeply satisfying for me.  I also love Cassandra Mortmain from I Capture the Castle, because she is such an excellent writer.

Favorite hero in literature and why?

I’m very fond of Mr. Toad.  I can’t imagine that needs any explanation.

Favorite first line from a book?

From Rose Macauley’s Towers of Trebizond, “Take my camel, dear,” said my aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass.”

Favorite last line from a book?

Can I pick a short story instead of a book?  The last line I think of first is the final sentence of Angela Carter’s story “The Fall River Axe Murders.”  I don’t think I should tell you what it is.  It doesn’t have the same impact without the whole story in front of it.

Book that changed your life?

Since my father read Charlotte’s Web to me when I was seven years old, I have never killed a spider.  At least never on purpose.  And I never will.

Words to Live By: 

When in doubt, ask a librarian.

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