Hi reddit,
Dirda's son here. My dad's not the redditor type, but in spite of that he's still a pretty interesting guy--he's a longtime book reviewer and columnist for the Washington Post and an author of many books about reading and writers--so I'm having him sit down for the next few hours to answer questions about book reviewing, tell stories about his author friends (including, yes, Neil Gaiman), and offer book recommendations on any topic. He's not a big braggart so I'll brag for him: He's been called the most well-read man in America (most notably by Michael Kinsley), he's an expert on Arthur Conan Doyle and his most recent book on the guy won an Edgar Award, and he once almost bought a thumb from a gypsy in France.
I'm really here to help him navigate the site and coach him on how to respond to questions about things like baconing narwhal. I won't influence the content of his answers--I'll be typing up exactly what he says.
I'll also post a picture of his Pulitzer on top of our cat.
Edit: Cat and Pulitzer: http://i.imgur.com/d26Yb.jpg
Edit 2: 3:45PM - We've been at it for a few hours now, so we're taking a break and will be back to answer more later this afternoon. Thanks guys!
Edit 3: We're back now (6pm) and will do a few now, and another run later this evening!
Edit 4: Taking another break--we'll try to do one more sweep in an hour or so. Thanks for all the questions, guys!
Edit 5: Ok guys, calling it quits since I think the papa is a bit fried from hours of doing this. Thanks to all who asked questions, and apologies to those whose questions we missed. My dad really wanted to dethrone Stoya as the top post of the subreddit, so maybe we'll do another sometime.
Tomorrow at 1 pm ET, I'm facilitating an IAMA with my papa, who has been a book reviewer at the Washington Post for more than 30 years. Hope any and all can join. He'll be happy to talk about anything from how book reviewing has progressed over the years, to the library that is our house, to his good friendships with many big authors (yes, including Reddit fave Neil Gaiman--his expertise is in sci fi/fantasy). Annnnd of course he'll offer as many book recs as I can wrangle from him over the several hours we do this.
Hope to see you there!
Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2012-05-12
Link to submission (Has self-text)
| Questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| How do you feel about the trend of reading books electronically? Do you think this takes away from the mystique of reading hard copies, or is it a positive trend if people begin to read more? | Of course, anything that encourages people to read more--and, better yet--more widely is all to the good. But your point about "mystique" is an important one. I think e-book readers tend to slightly flatten the reading experience, making all books look roughly alike. I think books should be different in look and feel. Raymond Chandler ought to be read in a cheap paperback with a leggy blonde on the cover; Henry James demands some stately format like the New York Edition. I also like to read first editions, or editions close to when a book first appeared, because this adds what Walter Benjamin called a certain "aura." I also worry that reading on screens invites quick reading, almost scanning, rather than the slow immersion that serious reading requires. But I don't want to make too much of this. People probably complained when the codex first appeared and said "What was wrong with scrolls?" |
| Are you a fan of Hunter S Thompson? | My copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is inscribed: "To Mike, with thanks for getting me the crack cocaine in Boston, Your friend, Hunter." The inscription is genuine. We won't look into what I did for Hunter in Boston. |
| Edit--Here you go: Link to i.imgur.com | |
| Let's talk logistics: How do you manage to read so many books, so often? Is it just that you make reading your top priority and spend every waking moment doing it, or do you read particularly quickly? Or both? | I'm not at all a speed reader--I move my lips while I read. But I am dogged and I do like to read. I even like to write, which probably sounds even more unlikely. And you're right: I don't do a lot that other people do. Very few movies. Alm |
Do your worst!
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
This started as a comment on the post "Book suggestions for a fellow wheelie", but seemed as if it might merit a post of its own. It's a pleasant surprise that as I write this, the top 5 comments on that other post suggest Tad Williams, Stephen R. Donaldson, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Gene Wolfe, and Isaac Asimov to read after TWOT (all suggestions which I heartily second).
Most often when the question is asked what to read next, like here, or here, or here, there's a lopsided bias towards books written in the last 10-20 years. While this fits the demographics of Reddit--as of 2016: 45% between 18 and 29--and in the case of Brandon Sanderson makes sense due to his authorship of TWOT, otherwise that is markedly insular and myopic. Setting aside as too lengthy for now some deeper thoughts on the subject:
First in sheer numbers, there were more good books written before the last two decades than were written in the last two decades, for the brute reason that there were more authors writing more books. As in sports, the more you shoot, the more you can score. To mix metaphors, suggesting books mostly from the last 10-20 years is like suggesting to a budding gourmand to eat mostly Mexican food (thus ignoring Chinese, and French, and Italian, and Thai, and Ethiopian, and Japanese, and Greek...).
Secondly, as a matter of genre, fantasy as it is came to be in part through the Romantics, 19th-century nationalism, the pre-Raphaelites, the Celtic Revival, the "Northern Thing", the Inklings, Weird Tales, and so on, as a recovery of the past in reaction to "dark Satanic mills", "On or about December 1910 human nature changed,", the [First World War](https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-jrr-tolkien%E2%80%99s-
... keep reading on reddit ➡
They’re on standbi
Pilot on me!!
