Andrew Davidson - author q & a

Andrew Davidson on Tom Robbins, "Middlemarching" and the perfect bacon sandwich ...

What was your favourite childhood book?

There wasn't just one. I read everything, and I was more in love with reading than with a particular book.

Which book has made you laugh?

Anything by Tom Robbins, Jasper Fforde, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Which book has made you cry?

The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson. It has also made me pull my hair out, stomp my feet, and sulk like a child who hasn't gotten his way.

Which book would you never have on your bookshelf?

There is no book that I would not have on my bookshelf. My interests are wide, and there is at least as much value in reading a book that opposes your worldview as one that confirms it; more, probably.

Which book are you reading at the moment?

The Boat, by Nam Le. I've just started it, but I can tell already he's a fantastic writer. I expect he's got a great career ahead of him.

Which book would you give as a present to a friend?

Of course, every friend would get a book tailored to his or her taste. However, I will say that I have probably given away a dozen copies of Perfume: The Story of a Murder, by Patrick Süskind.

Which other writers do you admire?

Let's go with five per discipline:

Novelists: - Thomas Hardy, Vladimir Nabokov, Tom Robbins, Keri Hulme, Patrick Süskind; Poets: - Leonard Cohen, John Milton, e.e. cummings, Dante, William Blake; Playwrights: - Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Sophocles; Songwriters: - Leonard Cohen, Rebecka Törnqvist, Fiona Apple, Cole Porter, Beethoven.

Which classic have you always meant to read and never got round to it?

Middlemarch. In fact, I have been meaning to get around to it since I was eighteen years old, and it has gotten to the point that I now use "middlemarch"as a verb. If there is a book I know I should be reading, and I am not, I say that "I'm middlemarching it."

What are your top five books of all time, in order or otherwise?

No particular order:

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins.

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Is there a particular book or author that inspired you to be a writer?

Not one in particular, but Slaughterhouse-Five was the first book that I started to take notes on outside of English class. I liked what Kurt Vonnegut did with words, and I wanted to know how he did it.

What is your favourite time of day to write?

Midnight to eight in the morning. This is always my most productive time.

And favourite place?

A desk with no distractions, facing a wall with no pictures.

Longhand or word processor?

Both. It depends where in the process I am.

Which fictional character would you most like to have met?

I'm happy to let fictional characters remain fictional; I think it’s the respectful thing to do.

Who, in your opinion, is the greatest writer of all time?

My favourite is Thomas Hardy, but it’s hard not to argue Shakespeare as the greatest (as boring a choice as that is).

Which book have you found yourself unable to finish?

My diary.

What is your favourite word?

Yes.

Other than writing, what other jobs or professions have you undertaken or considered?

I've been an English teacher to Japanese students, a tree planter, a security guard, a waiter, an internet content producer, day care worker, and a good-for-nothing layabout.

What was the first piece you ever had in print?

A poem in an obscure literary magazine in the early 1990s, and I’m pretty sure that even I no longer have a copy of that magazine.

What are you working on at the moment?

A deeper understanding of self, and a better recipe for a bacon sandwich.