Every Sunday the New York Times Book Review interviews an author about his or her reading habits. The key word is ‘author;’ sometimes the interviewee, rather than a writer, is a celebrity (usually an entertainer of some sort) who has written a book but would never be described as bookish. Loretta Lynn’s answer to pretty much every question – last great book read, best book received as a gift – was “the Bible.”
This past Sunday the featured author was the actress Gabrielle Union. One of the questions asked her to name a book that was “disappointing, overrated, just not good.” Most writers dodge this one, or mention a weighty tome that has defeated many readers. Not Ms. Union. “The Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, you can keep it,” she said. “Slaughterhouse-Five, keep it. White Fang, The Old Man and the Sea, Moby-Dick – please, keep it. My life did not change for reading any of those. If I didn’t have to write papers and do assignments on them, I would’ve gladly never finished them after the first chapter.”
Reading that, I wondered why the Book Review insists on interviewing non-readers about their reading habits. It only embarrasses them, which can’t be the editors’ intention. Can it?
