What are your five favorite books, and why?
Although I love novels like Faulkner's 'The Sound And The Fury', Bellow's 'Herzog', Conrad's 'Heart Of Darkness' and many others, I usually come back to Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' when people ask me, 'What's your favourite novel?' The writing is exquisite, the imagery resonant and the characters are well drawn - and, crucially, it's not a word too long. It says just about everything there is to say about the human condition in a way that is crafted to glitter like a precious jewel. To add a fifth title, Arthur Miller's 'Time Bends' held me in its trance and left me feeling that it was written by a very wise and very human individual, whom I would love to have known.
What do you read for pleasure?
I have always read novels, but find myself reading more non-fiction as I get older. When either my wife or I travel back to the UK from France, we usually bring home a copy of Vanity Fair, which usually gives a week or more's good, varied reading. In idle moments, I find myself dipping time and again into the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. I used to read sports magazines from cover to cover, but these days pick up enough stuff in that respect on the internet.
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