Biblio File, Interviews

Ask the Author: Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta

When you're a reader, there's little better than a trusted book recommendation, and who is more trusted than a beloved author? That's why NYPL Ask The Author gets the skinny on author reading habits before Books at Noon and Live@NYPL events.  For our inaugural installment, Tom Perrotta discusses Tolkien, football stories, and how to eat alone. Perrotta is the author of two short story collections and six novels, two of which have been adapted into Academy Award-nominated films. His 2011 novel The Leftovers was turned into an HBO television series.

When and where do you like to read?

I read in bed, on planes and trains, on my screened porch, and in restaurants, if I’m eating alone. I do most of my reading at night.

What were your favorite books as a child?

I loved sports books as a kid, things like Strange But True Football StoriesAs  a teenager, I loved Rod Serling, Tolkien, and Vonnegut.

What books had the greatest impact on you?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a sublime experience for me. So were Dostoevsky’s The Possessed, The Stories of John Cheeverand This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff.

Would you like to name a few writers out there you think deserve greater readership?

Ann Hood, the late Thomas Berger, and Edith Pearlman.

What was the last book you recommended?

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher.

What do you plan to read next?

Wolf Hall.