What is Mike Sacks reading?

Today's featured contributor at Writers Read: Mike Sacks, author of Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason.

His entry begins:

I'm currently reading The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Smith has always been a favorite of mine. From what I've read, she wasn't the nicest of people, which usually doesn't matter, especially when it concerns solitary writers, but I wonder if this is why she was able to so accurately capture the emotional nuances of her disturbed, damaged characters. It seems to me that each character is, if not a jerk, than a bit of a sociopath--capable of murder or emotional devastation with a flick of a knife or a (well) sharpened remark. It's incredible how well she digs into...[read on]

Among the early praise for Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason:

"Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason makes you laugh out loud, and at the same time it inspires wonder. 'This is my language?' you’ll find yourself thinking. 'Really?' Nowhere else will you read the phrase 'shame spiral eye patch' or find the word 'robot' alongside 'with a bar tending degree.' This is to say that Mike Sacks is not just a sensational comic writer, but a sensational writer—period.
—David Sedaris

"Sacks and his various co-writers are gifted humorists, and it's safe to say that any reader will emit chuckles, guffaws, and chortles on nearly every page."
—Booklist

"An enjoyable collection of zaniness."
—Kirkus Reviews

“The essays, many of which were published in McSweeney's and The New Yorker, are a selection of contemporary social satires... Highlighting this often hilarious book are Yu's many illustrations, such as the inclusion of Pynchon's muted post horn, and Sancton's 10 drawings depicting 'Everyday Tantric Positions' as well as an eight-page pantomime comic strip from Esquire about frustrating Ikea assembly instructions.”
—Publishers Weekly

Read more about Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason at the Tin House Books website.

Mike Sacks has written for Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, The New Yorker, Time, McSweeney’s, Radar, MAD, New York Observer, Premiere, Believer, Vice, Maxim, Women’s Health, and Salon. He has worked at The Washington Post, and is currently on the editorial staff of Vanity Fair.

His books include And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Humor Writers About Their Craft and (co-writer) Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk.

Visit Mike Sacks's website.

Writers Read: Mike Sacks.

--Marshal Zeringue