One book on his recent reading list:
Time's Arrow, by Martin Amis. I think he's under-rated, famous as he is. He's the best stylist out of the UK since VS Pritchett, I think, and as funny as Nabokov. In the generation of English-language writers after Updike's, I think he musters the best sentences, page after page. At least he does in his best stuff (Money, this book, Visiting Mrs. Nabokov, and even London Fields.) And this book -- gimmick though it is -- really shows how you can use your material to create suspense. Because of the structure of the book, everything the character does is interesting -- even (especially?) going to the bathroom. [read on]Also a screenwriter, Strauss is adapting Chang and Eng with Gary Oldman, for Disney. The recipient of a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction writing, he is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU's Graduate school.
Gary Shteyngart, author of Absurdistan and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, on More Than It Hurts You:
“Darin Strauss has written a novel that is — suture by suture, idea for idea — peerlessly brilliant. Here is a supreme, mature novelist at the height of his powers. Take me to the hospital. My jaw has dropped.”Visit Darin Strauss's website to learn more about him and his work, and check out Newsweek's "Booked" blog to read about his More Than It Hurts You book tour.
Writers Read: Darin Strauss.
--Marshal Zeringue
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