Questions + Answers

Installment #8

Hi Substack friends. I hope you enjoy this question and answer series, which I hope to post weekly, on Fridays. It means the world to me to have you here, so thank you again for joining me, and thank you for providing these great questions.

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Thank you, Patty Ann, for this wonderful question about books, one of my favorite subjects.

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I hope you are doing well! I'm really loving your posts on the Autotelic. It's another beautifully-written window into your soul. I know you are a huge reader (I'm often reading and recommending your books to my library patrons). My question is, what are your favorite books of all-time? Ones you can read and re-read over and over again?

Dear Patty Ann,

Thank you for subscribing to The Autotelic and thank you for this question. I love talking about books — but the problem with it is I don’t ever want to stop. Let’s see what sort of answers I can come up with for this one today — I know it might be at least slightly different tomorrow.

Books have always occupied a big space in my life intellectually, spiritually, and physically. I need them for my mind, I need them for my peace, and I like them in my space — books make me feel good in all the ways. Picking favorites is always hard because I love most of the books I’ve read (I stopped finished books I don’t like because life is too short) but I’m going to stand up, look at my shelves, and figure out this answer.

Okay, let’s see. Here are the first ten that I have an affinity for that I see:

1. A HeartbreakingWork of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

2. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

3. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

4. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

5. Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion

6. Arboretum by David Byrne

7. This Much I Know is True by Wally Lamb

8. Atonement by Ian McEwan

9. The Good Life by Jay McInerney

10. One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty

That was a five-minute scan of the left side of the shelves — you can see I didn’t get past M except for the Welty and it was misplaced. I adore so many other books, but any of these I’ve listed I would read over and over. I think I’ve read most of these twice if not multiple times — I centered my MFA creative thesis around The Year of Magical Thinking — the piece is called “Grief and Sensibility” — and contrasted my first book with it. I distinctly remember, upon reading that book in 2007, thinking I was finally reading something about grief that made sense to me, that made me feel like I wasn’t an alien for the way I processed loss (cerebrally at first and maybe for quite a while, then the emotional geyser that isn’t fully done spewing until satisfactory art of some sort is made). One Writer’s Beginnings is simply lovely and worth reading multiple times — it’s one of those I call a nightstand book, as in just keep it there to refer to as needed.

Y’all leave your favorites in the comments!

Have a great weekend.

AM

13 August 2021

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