What books do you have on your night stand presently?
It’s of no surprise that I have more material on my night stand than I ever read. I pass by two literature giant towers each night I’m off to bed; one of them comprising of books I intend to read for no apparent reason for example ‘Little Known Facts’ by Christine Sneed and ‘American Gods’ by Neil Gaiman, the first two novels to top this tower and the other tower consisting of books that I feel may have useful information on something I’m tackling for instance I currently require a lot of information on the U.S. history between the periods 1918 and 1929, so ‘Main Street’ by Sinclair Lewis, ‘Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940’ by David Kyvig which has extremely great history and ‘Once in Golconda’ by John Brooks are the first three books on this second tower. Eeriest books of both stacks are the 1920 and 1930 U.S. censuses.
What’s the ultimate exceptional book you’ve read?
‘A Hologram for the King’ by Dave Eggers. The way Alan Clay is portrayed by Eggers truly relates to inside life of the common American Businessman. He narrates it in a way the readers can visualize all the aspects he’s describing in the book. Convince us on your preferred writer whom you think is unrecognized. They are so many but Jim Holt is my favorite, although his current book, ‘Why Does the World Exist?’ is nothing short of appreciated. Holt wrote a Literature Review column for the British magazine in the early 90’s that I thought it great though no one knew of him. I don’t get why he’s still not seriously popular. His page is captivating and I enjoy reading it every time. I’d also like to add the unrecognized work of acknowledged writer subcategory. Each writer has their moment of good luck streaks. Roger Angell’s article on The New Yorker regarding very old age has currently on a hot streak. Hopefully, he’ll live longer so as to write about the article.
What are your formal guilty fulfillments? And what genre do you favor?
I’ve never experienced guilt from reading a book. My formal guilty fulfillment is television, with ‘Eastbound & Down’, HBO series topping the cake of guiltiest pleasure. Probably the writers of this series don’t think their talent is literary but it sure is. I experience the same feeling I felt when reading ‘Portnoy’s Complaints’ for the first time when I watch this series. Which books might surprise us on your shelves? 1920 and 1930’s United States censuses.
What is the best book you’ve ever read on Wall Street?
Edwin Lefèvre’s ‘Reminiscences of a Stock Operation’ which is a thinly concealed biography concerning Jesse Livermore, a well known speculator for betting versus the United States stock market right before 1929 crash. It still remains readable and relevant since its time of publish in 1923. You can tell how Wall Street has made little change since the last century. It is stuffed with so much truth concerning market life.
Before you acquired masters in finance, you attended Princeton where you studied Art History. Which books do you like reading, art history or books about art? Do you have any modern recommendations or preferences from your days as a student?
I enjoyed the historical accounts of early French art dealers for example ‘Recollections of a Picture Dealer’ by Ambroise Vollard, my favored best. I also love primarily everything published by E. H. Gombrich. What last book did you find most hilarious? ‘The Apprentiship of Duddy Kravitz’, by Mordecai Richler.
What last book made tears roll down your cheek?
‘Charlotte’s Web.’ As a reader, what sort of reader were you and what book did you favor most from your childhood books collection? ‘Hardy Boys mysteries’ were the first books I sampled. At 11 years old, I started to refuse books my teachers advised me to read for books I was certain they would not approve. First I read ‘Rosemary’s baby’ then ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. I realized masturbation from the book ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’, which I was compelled to read after suspecting my parents were evading the topic. Philip Roth reigns in an atypical spot in my heart.
Whom do you appraise as your writer heroes?
In no order of the listing, Walker Percy, Mark Twain, Saul Bellow, Rebecca West, George Plimpton, John McPhee, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Wolfe, George Orwell and Vladimir Nabokov. As for essays, I consider Alan Bennett and Neil Gaiman.
As a writer, which novels left an impression on you? Is there a book in particular that inspired you to write?
The list may seem bizarre and the impact they may have made was when I first encountered them. They are ‘The Moviegoer’, ‘Huckleberry Finn’, ‘The Right Stuff’, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’, ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Lucky Jim’. I dint get the notion to write a book the first time I read ‘Huckleberry Finn’ but I did wish I was able to generate the gratifications I got myself from that book.
