Interview with Joseph Kanon

Quick Start

SS: How would you describe your life in only 8 words?

JK: Husband, father, writer. Loves: Robin, David, Michael, traveling.

SS: What is your motto or maxim?

JK: From 'The Rules of the Game': what you must understand is that everyone has his reasons.

What Readers want to know...

SS: How would you describe perfect happiness?

JK: Eating dinner outdoors in a piazza in Rome with my wife. (What makes this idea of perfection particularly appealing is that you can actually do it.)

SS: What’s your greatest fear?

JK: Being gravely ill and dependent.

SS: If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?

JK: Istanbul-- my new favorite city.

SS: With whom in history do you most identify?

JK: No one.

SS: Which living person do you most admire?

JK: My wife.

SS: What do you regret most?

JK: That I have never written a movie. But who knows?

SS: If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?

JK: Speaking a foreign language fluently.

SS: What is your greatest achievement?

JK: My two sons, David and Michael-- though I suspect I didn't really have much to do with the fine men they've become.

SS: What’s your greatest flaw?

JK: Out of the many? Impatience, I suppose.

SS: What’s your best quality?

JK: A genuine curiosity about people and places.

SS: If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?

JK: George Clooney-- or at least look like him.

SS: What trait is most noticeable about you?

JK: I hope, a sense of humor.

SS: Who is your favorite fictional hero?

JK: Patrick Leigh Fermor-- not fictional, but certainly the hero of his wonderful memoirs.

SS: Who is your favorite fictional villain?

JK: Iago.

SS: If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?

JK: Shakespeare. "Just talk; I'll listen."

SS: What is your biggest pet peeve?

JK: People using cell phones in the street. Not getting a live person when you call customer service.

SS: What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?

JK: Reading.

SS: What’s your fantasy profession?

JK: Film director.

SS: What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?

JK: Intelligence, humor, kindness.

SS: If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?

JK: Pasta.

SS: What are your 5 favorite songs?

JK: Easier probably to say which songwriters: Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, The Beatles, Antonio Carlos Jobim

Questions About Books and Writing

SS: Who are your favorite authors?

JK: Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Marcel Proust, Evelyn Waugh, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

SS: What are your 5 favorite books of all time?

JK: Remembrance of Things Past, The Great Gatsby, A Handful of Dust, Middlemarch,A Time of Gifts.

SS: Is there a book you love to reread?

JK: The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh.

SS: Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?

JK: You are already in every word-- become interested in someone else.

SS: What comment do you hear most often from your readers?

JK: Positive: authentic feel for place. Negative: not fast enough (but I fear I ignore this).

General Questions

SS: What is your birthdate?

JK: 5/19

SS: What were your previous occupations?

JK: Editor/publisher/executive.

SS: What was/is your favorite job?

JK: Writing

SS: Where did you go to high school and/or college?

JK: High school: Nanticoke, Pa. College: Harvard and Trinity College, Cambridge.

SS: Name of your favorite composer or music artist?

JK: Bach.

SS: What is your favorite movie?

JK: Casablanca-- isn't it everyone's?

SS: What is your favorite television show?

JK: The Sopranos

Get more on Joseph Kanon at SimonandSchuster.com