Patrick Rothfuss - Online Profile

Patrick Rothfuss on Narnia,Dickens and The Wise Man's Fear...

What was your favourite childhood book?

Probably the Narnia books. They were my first chapter books, and will always have a special place in my heart. We love best what we love first.

Which book has made you laugh?

I laugh pretty easily, so there are quite a few of these. But Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Jim Butcher's Dresden books consistently crack me up.

Which book has made you cry?

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. There's just something about the shape of the story that breaks me up every time I read it.

Which book would you never have on your bookshelf?

Shakespeare's Cardenio. I guarantee you'll never see it on my shelf.

Which book are you reading at the moment?

Inda, by Sherwood Smith. I'd comment on it, but I've only read two pages so far...

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

You've just hit on one of my hobbies. I give away books all the time. Most recently I've given away five or six copies of a graphic novel called Blankets by Craig Thompson. It's amazingly good.

Which other writers do you admire?

You can't not like Neil Gaiman. It's just impossible. A few other authors I've just recently stumbled onto that I really enjoy include Jim Butcher and Brendan Sanderson. I also really enjoy Grant Morrison, who writes mostly graphic novels.

Oh, and Joss Whedon. I can't not mention him. True, he mostly writes for television and graphic novels, and that means some people don't think of him as a "writer" but that's just foolish. He understands character, plot, and language as well as any man living. He's a masterful storyteller, regardless of what medium he happens to be working in.

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

JM Barrie's Peter Pan. But I'll be correcting that mistake in about two week's time. I'd better read it as I'll be teaching it in class....

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

The Last Unicorn - Peter Beagle

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Cyrano de Bergerac - Edmond Rostand

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

What is the worst book you have ever read?

I don't know if it was the absolute worst, but Great Expectations was pretty horrible. Dickens had a nice turn of phrase, but that story overall was utter shite.

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

No

What is your favourite time of day to write?

Night time. The later the better.

And favourite place?

At home. In front of the computer.

Longhand or word processor?

Definitely on word processor. Specifically, I like to have a clicky keyboard. The old IBM m-series keyboard. It's hard for me to write on anything else.

Which fictional character would you most like to have met?

Ooohhh. That's a good one. Don Quixote would be interesting, but he's not the sort of guy you can really have lunch with. Aslan might be more productive. Personally, I'd like to meet some of my own characters. I love them all, but I wonder if I'd get along with them in person.

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

Gek No. I can't pick. It's like asking a kid who they like better, their mom or their dad. It's just not a fair question. I love so many in so many different ways that I can't pick.

Which book have you found yourself unable to finish reading?

Hmm... It would be unkind of me to say. People can ask me in person if they like, but I'd rather not go publicly slinging stones at someone's book just because it didn't suit my particular taste.

What is your favourite word?

It really depends on my mood. Maybe... paracintavian? Ooohh! Or "brusque". "Brusque" is a great word.

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

I've done all sorts of great jobs in the past. Parking lot attendant. Busboy. Janitor. Taco Bell cashier. Barista. Truthfully, I enjoyed a lot of those jobs. Being a janitor really gives you a lot of time to think...

Right now my day job is teaching, which I really enjoy. I might have to give it up soon though, as teaching takes a lot of time and energy to do right, and right now I should really be focusing that time and energy more on my writing.

Believe it or not, when I started college, I was going to be a chemical engineer. I used to be a big math and science person before I was won over by the liberal arts. Four hundred years ago I would have made a great alchemist, or they would have burned me at the stake. Or both.

What was the first piece you ever had in print?

A humour column that I wrote for the local paper called, "Your College Survival Guide." Satirical humour for the most part, mingled with a few drops of good advice.

What are you working on at the moment?

Book two in my trilogy: The Wise Man's Fear.