Allegra Goodman

Allegra Goodman's novels include Intuition and Kaaterskill Falls. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and Best American Short Stories. She is a winner of the Whiting Writer's Award and a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Her new novel is The Cookbook Collector.

From her Powell's Q & A:

Describe your latest book.

The Cookbook Collector is a novel about two sisters: pragmatic Emily, the CEO of a successful Silicon Valley start-up, and romantic Jess, who works for an antiquarian bookseller named George. Set during the dot-com boom and bust, the book is about hunger: for money, for material things, for food, for fame, for knowledge, for companionship, for love.

Which fictional character would you like to date, and why?

I have a few ideas, with some requirements for each character. I'd like to date Mr. Darcy, if he'd take yoga. Mr. Rochester, if he'd get a divorce, install smoke alarms, and read Cold Comfort Farm. Lydgate, if he'd leave Rosalind and apply for a tenure track job.

Describe the best breakfast of your life.

Croissants with butter and jam in a small hotel in Paris on a trip there with...[read on]

Visit Allegra Goodman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue