William Finnegan comes to Books at Noon this week to discuss discuss his latest work, Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. 

Join him on Wednesday, June 1 at 12 PM!

When and where do you like to read?

On trains, planes, and boats. In bed, on a couch, in a chair by the window. In bars and cafes and airports. Not on a beach, if I can help it, and not first thing in the morning, except the newspaper. In the reclining chair in my daughter’s room. In a tent while camping. In the subway.
 
What were your favorite books as a child?

Sports books, both fictional and non. Late Victorian novels for girls— Heidi, Pollyanna. Dr. Seuss. Tom Sawyer. The Hardy Boys. Walter Farley. 
 
Do you have any strange writing habits (like standing on your head or writing in the shower)?

I pretend to be writing while surfing. Meaning: I tell editors that I’m more productive if I take breaks to surf when the waves are good, and that I will return to my desk with writing problems solved. It rarely proves true, but I keep saying it.
 
What are five words that describe your writing process?

Obsessive, inefficient, sleep-deprived, bourbon.
 
How have libraries impacted your life?

My mother took us to our local public library in California every 2 weeks when we were kids. We were allowed to check out 10 books. That felt like wanton luxury. I later wrote a great deal in libraries, including a college library in Denpasar, Indonesia, and a beautiful old public library on the waterfront in Suva, Fiji.