The New York Times Book Review - USA (2020-09-13)

8 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

What books are on your night stand?

Well, we’re in a pandemic and I’m quar-

antined so it’s a stack: “Whose Water Is

It, Anyway? Taking Water Protection

Into Public Hands,” by Maude Barlow,

“Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Y.

Davis, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and

Revival of American Community,” by

Robert D. Putnam, and “Underland: A

Deep Time Journey,” by Robert Macfar-

lane.

What’s the last great book you read?

“The Overstory,” by Richard Powers.

Describe your ideal reading experience

(when, where, what, how).

My favorite is to read in restaurants

alone while I eat. At home, I have a stand

that holds the book and keeps pages open

on the kitchen counter so it’s easy to read

while eating. Now that I’m single, I read

in bed, mostly in the evening, but when I

was in my early teens my favorite place

to read was sitting in the branches of an

immense beech tree overlooking a very

old graveyard. I like reading in grave-

yards leaning against old gravestones,

though I haven’t had many opportunities

of late.

Which writers — novelists, playwrights,

critics, journalists, poets — working

today do you admire most?

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Charles M. Blow, Frank

Bruni, Jane Mayer, Ann Patchett, Arund-

hati Roy, Mary Karr, Jared Diamond and

Jeremy O. Harris.

What character from literature would you

most like to play?

Nora in “A Doll’s House.” I did play her

once, but I didn’t dig deep enough.

Do you have any comfort reads?

Mary Oliver’s and Emily Dickinson’s

poetry.

What’s the most interesting thing you

learned from a book recently?

That trees communicate with each other,

alert each other to danger, and tend to

each other’s well-being. They can also

learn. I think of the Amazon as I write

this and my heart just breaks.

Which genres do you especially enjoy

reading? And which do you avoid?

I’m not interested in romance or scary

novels. I will occasionally read classics —

Dickens, Tolstoy, Proust — or terrific

contemporary novelists. But I mostly

read nonfiction books focusing on what-

ever topic I am trying to learn about.

Lately, I’m reading books about racism

by Black authors like Baldwin, Hurston,

Langston Hughes, Ta-Nehisi Coates,

Isabel Wilkerson and Ibram Kendi. I’ve

spent years reading books about Christi-

anity including about the Gnostic

Gospels. I’ve read scores of books about

childhood sexual abuse, everything writ-

ten by Alice Miller.

How do you organize your books?

Novels and poetry fall into two groups,

but all the nonfiction is organized by

topic. The largest sections in my library

are books by and about women, psychol-

ogy, religion, biographies, politics, eco-

nomics, labor and the environment.

What’s the best book you’ve ever re-

ceived as a gift?

“The Village of Ben Suc,” by Jonathan

Schell. A group of American soldiers who

had fought in Vietnam gave it to me. It

changed my life. I left my French hus-

band, moved back to the United States

and joined the anti-Vietnam War move-

ment.

What kind of reader were you as a child?

Which childhood books and authors stick

with you most?

I loved all the Nancy Drew mystery

books and the novels about horses like

“Black Beauty” and “The Black Stallion.”

But reading “Green Mansions” when I

was 12 was the most memorable. That’s

when I lost awareness of reading and

becamethe book.

Have you ever gotten in trouble for read-

ing a book?

No, but I locked myself in a closet to read

“The Amboy Dukes” when I was 11 be-

cause I was told there were sexy scenes

in it. When I look through it now I can’t

find any.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party.

Which three writers, dead or alive, do

you invite?

Shakespeare. I wouldn’t want to dilute

that experience with anyone else. Be-

sides, I couldn’t handle more than him.

Maybe not even him. 0

Jane Fonda

The actress and activist, whose new book about climate change is

‘What Can I Do?,’ likes ‘reading in graveyards leaning against old

gravestones, though I haven’t had many opportunities of late.’

An expanded version of this interview is

available at nytimes.com/books.

By the Book

ILLUSTRATION BY JILLIAN TAMAKI

NDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2008

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