Saturday, February 21, 2009

A quote that's either funny or depressing

From a Publisher's Weekly interview with Charlotte Roche, a German television presenter who has just published her first novel, Wetlands:

PW: Who are your [literary] influences?

HM: I don't read at all. Since my daughter was born six years ago, I've only read one book, and that was because my best friend pushed me to read her favorite book, "The Great Gatsby." But I think not being a big reader makes me freer in writing; I always hear that authors who read lots also get blockages -- they have these idols and they try to be like them. I don't have that problem at all.

The novel is reportedly an increasingly uncomfortable meditation on bodily functions. A bestseller in Germany, it will soon be printed in 27 countries!

1 comment:

laurie said...

hmmm. i've been blocked in my writing from time to time, but never for those reasons.

i have found, though, that when i talk to journalism classes and ask them what journalists they read (or even what magazines they read), they tend to respond with vacant stares. ... read? ....