Rebecca Makkai

"(Which subjects do you wish more authors would write about?) I wish I could hear more about the details and peculiarities of characters’ jobs. Not a generically boring office job, but something terribly specific that we don’t normally get to hear about. I want to enjoy a novel and at the same time learn everything about eel fishing or asbestos removal or typewriter repair. And once in a while I want to read about people who like their work, people whose work isn’t a grind holding them back from self-actualization."

"(What moves you most in a work of literature?) The joy and tragedy of the passage of time. Which is almost always what I’m trying to write about."