Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

My favorite part about this job is finding new books along the way. Every week, I get a new list of books composed by one of my favorite writers. You can't beat that.

Today, novelist and songwriter Chris Eaton shares his influences--creating a sweet reading list just in time for the holidays. In case you haven't been following along, Eaton is the author of The Grammar Architect and leader of the band, Rock Plaza Central.

Welcome to the third installment of my interview with Eaton, part of my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a serialized set of weekly interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing...

Jason Boog: 
Your book is jammed packed with literary allusions, everybody from Borges to Thomas Hardy. Who are your biggest influences? What books do you recommend fledgling writers read? Continue reading...

Chris Eaton:
Whenever I try to think of the best writers, I think of guys like Georges Perec and Raymond Queneau, who I've only ever read in transaltion, and then guys like William Gaddis and Cormac McCarthy every second Thomas Pynchon book and probably every second Robert Coover.

So many. I think you should read books that you like. But you should always give a book about 50 pages. Because sometimes they can be so different that it's disconcerting, your rhythm is off, and you think you don't like it, but in 50 pages, you should be able to find that rhythm and decide if you like it.

Right now I've reading Padgett Powell's Edisto and loving it. But it took me about 25 pages. Up until that point, I was ready to start something else. And now I'm laughing out loud mesmerized.
 

I was influenced very early by a Canadian writer named Ray Smith, who I wrote a letter to once and he never replied. It was heartbreaking.