The WAR Series: Writers as Readers, with Soraya Roberts
Submitted by Grace on June 22, 2016 - 10:03am
ECW Press' Pop Classics series is a quirky pop culture-obsessed line of short and sweet books that offer cultural commentary that is equally parts witty and insightful. Delving into film, television, actors, musicians, and much more, if it's got a cult following or an unexplained fascination, it fits into Pop Classics.
The latest instalment might be the one to hit hardest for children of the '90s: Soraya Roberts's In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life. Unpacking the appealing of the one-season-wonder, In My Humble Opionion goes in depth on the series, which groundbreaking in its gritty attention to a teen girl's quest for identity, laying the groundwork for later series like Veronica Mars, Freaks & Geeks, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Soraya joins us today to talk about the best-loved and most influential books in her life as part of our WAR Series: Writers As Readers questionnaire. She tells us about the book that made her laugh out loud, the French novelist who shaped her writing, and a very related potential title for her autobiography.
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The WAR Series, Writers as Readers
The first book I remember reading on my own:
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch.
A book that made me cry:
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
The first adult book I read:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
A book that made me laugh out loud:
Lifespan of a Fact by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal.
The book I have re-read many times:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
A book I feel like I should have read, but haven't:
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.
The book I would give my 17-year-old self, if I could:
The Lover by Marguerite Duras.
A book I feel strongly influenced me as a writer and why:
The Lover by Marguerite Duras, because of her subtle manipulation of pronouns and her ability to distill complex thoughts and ideas into simple lyricism.
The best book I read in the past six months:
Where Art Belongs by Chris Kraus.
The book I plan on reading next:
Brand New Ancients by Kate Tempest.
A possible title for my autobiography:
Unthrilled.
