Miranda Sawyer - A life in books

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?
I’m reading Alistair darling’s memoir Back from the Brink because I had to interview him and actually, it’s really interesting, especially as he’s a man who everyone said was the most boring politician in the world. It’s incredibly recent and relevant and is all about things like Northern Rock and the banking crisis. It’s really actually quite good, I’d recommend it. Before that, the book I read and really enjoyed was The Room by Emma Donahoe. At first I was put off it because it was based (loosely) on the Fritzl case and I thought “who’d want to read that book, they must be mad” but it’s absolutely brilliant, uplifting and a great achievement technically.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO STARTING?
It’s a book that’s on the Booker prize list called Pidgin English, about an 11 year-old boy on a council estate. That’s right up my strasse. I like modern books.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST BOOK THAT GOT YOU HOOKED ON READING?
I was apparently reading when I was three but the books I really enjoyed around age eight were James Bond – he’s a raging sexist but it wasn’t the women I identified with it was him. I wanted to drink vodka martinis and drive around in an Aston Martin.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE BEACH READ?
I don’t really do beach holidays – though I did when i was younger. I wouldn’t read a different book on the beach or on the beach.

WHO IS YOUR ALL TIME FAVOURITE AUTHOR OR BOOK?
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, that’s an all time classic, the Great Gatsby, Lolita, fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - they’re all quite macho really. I’ve read Jane Austen but I’m just not interested. It doesn’t do anything for me. I really love James Ellroy but not for the gore, I just fall in love with a good plot

BOOK OR KINDLE?
I’ve got no objection to reading on an i-Pod or Kindle, I’ve not got a preference at all. The important thing is reading.

THE BOOK YOU LEAST LIKE?
Have you ever read The Ground Beneath her Feet (Salman Rushdie)? It is awful, really pitiful although I kept reading it for the laughs, you know what I mean. His public persona puts me off as well – “why would I like a book by you? You seem incredibly smug”.

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