Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich's The Round House, her 14th novel, won the coveted National Book Award for Fiction.

From her Q & A with Sara Nelson:

What is the most important book you never read?

There are so many but one would be Ulysses. I've never been able to forge all the way through it. It's one of those that I've got on a shelf and it stares at me. It says, "You're going to pick me up." Maybe someday.

Is there a book that changed your life?

There are actually three:
The Bible. As for so many writers, its language informed my earliest speech, writing, thoughts.
Second was Animal Farm; I thought it was about pigs. I knew about pigs because my grandparents had a butcher shop. Then it got me.
The third book is my father. He's a book. He's the most intelligent, literary, funny and tender human being I know. He's the main reason I became a writer. He wouldn't say he was a writer, but he is. He writes still, has volumes of his letter. He has written memoirs because he wants to. Poetry, reams of poetry. He has...[read on]

Learn more about Erdrich's five most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue