Ask the Author: P.D. Quaver
Answered Questions (4)
P.D. Quaver
Horror isn't really my thing. But here's vaguely-remembered true story--one that can
be succinctly told--that has always filled me with horror:
A tearful teenage girl, in some tropical Asian country, tenderly places the basket
containing her new-born babe beside the gate of a rich family's mansion, hoping its
discovery will lead to a better life for her child. But the family's limousines drive in and
out of the gate without noticing the shrubbery-shrouded basket, and it is the ants that
discover it.
be succinctly told--that has always filled me with horror:
A tearful teenage girl, in some tropical Asian country, tenderly places the basket
containing her new-born babe beside the gate of a rich family's mansion, hoping its
discovery will lead to a better life for her child. But the family's limousines drive in and
out of the gate without noticing the shrubbery-shrouded basket, and it is the ants that
discover it.
P.D. Quaver
This question is surely intended to prompt fantasies of life in some dragon-infested
dystopia, or universe far, far away. But life on our own planet a mere two centuries ago,
before we despoiled it (and humankind was homogenized into a jeans-clad throng) would
have been plenty fantastical. So I would choose to dwell in the vividly imagined world of
Patrick O'Brien's "Master and Commander" series, sailing the Seven Seas as a member of
Jack Aubrey's loyal crew, battling the French and Spanish navies for gloriously rich prizes,
exploring teeming oriental cities, and helping Steven Maturin preserve and catalogue
specimens of obscure flora and fauna from various exotic locales.
dystopia, or universe far, far away. But life on our own planet a mere two centuries ago,
before we despoiled it (and humankind was homogenized into a jeans-clad throng) would
have been plenty fantastical. So I would choose to dwell in the vividly imagined world of
Patrick O'Brien's "Master and Commander" series, sailing the Seven Seas as a member of
Jack Aubrey's loyal crew, battling the French and Spanish navies for gloriously rich prizes,
exploring teeming oriental cities, and helping Steven Maturin preserve and catalogue
specimens of obscure flora and fauna from various exotic locales.
P.D. Quaver
For me, reading--like listening to music, or watching great films--isn't a
season-related activity. and summer, in a time of wind-blown leaves and first
snows, seems hopelessly distant. But I just ordered newly-published books by three
of my favorite authors:
1. "The Passenger" by Cormac McCarthy.
First book in 16 years by my candidate (an many other's as well) for "Greatest
Living American Author" (with a paired volume, "Stella Maris," due out in December '22).
An excerpt printed in the New York Times was intriguing, not least because the Master
decided to ditch the elegiac cowboy stuff for dialogue that was convincingly contemporary,
with flashes of surprising wit (a condescending review two weeks later in that same
publication's Book Review I dismissed as an anomalous abomination).
2. "Shrines of Gaiety" by Kate Atkinson
Ms. Atkinson writes a novel set in Jazz Age London? I'm foaming at the mouth with
anticipation (literally! Though only in one sense). And if you've never read her other stuff
(especially "Case Histories," or any of her Jackson Brody novels), you're missing one of
contemporary literature's great treats.
3. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr
New Yorker critic Anthony Lane wrote that David Mitchell, with the popularity of
his unwieldy but fascinating Frankenstein's Monster of a novel "Cloud Atlas," has
"a lot to answer for"--and, judging from the reviews, Anthony Doerr's latest novel
may be a case in point. But if it's anything like his masterpiece "All the Light We
Cannot See," I'll still devour it.
season-related activity. and summer, in a time of wind-blown leaves and first
snows, seems hopelessly distant. But I just ordered newly-published books by three
of my favorite authors:
1. "The Passenger" by Cormac McCarthy.
First book in 16 years by my candidate (an many other's as well) for "Greatest
Living American Author" (with a paired volume, "Stella Maris," due out in December '22).
An excerpt printed in the New York Times was intriguing, not least because the Master
decided to ditch the elegiac cowboy stuff for dialogue that was convincingly contemporary,
with flashes of surprising wit (a condescending review two weeks later in that same
publication's Book Review I dismissed as an anomalous abomination).
2. "Shrines of Gaiety" by Kate Atkinson
Ms. Atkinson writes a novel set in Jazz Age London? I'm foaming at the mouth with
anticipation (literally! Though only in one sense). And if you've never read her other stuff
(especially "Case Histories," or any of her Jackson Brody novels), you're missing one of
contemporary literature's great treats.
3. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr
New Yorker critic Anthony Lane wrote that David Mitchell, with the popularity of
his unwieldy but fascinating Frankenstein's Monster of a novel "Cloud Atlas," has
"a lot to answer for"--and, judging from the reviews, Anthony Doerr's latest novel
may be a case in point. But if it's anything like his masterpiece "All the Light We
Cannot See," I'll still devour it.
P.D. Quaver
I'm of mixed English, Irish and German stock. But there was a long-standing
rumor in our family (delivered by my mother in hushed tones) that her father's
German-American family had some Jewish blood. This was rather surprising (or
perhaps not?), because my grandfather, though in most ways a wonderful, even
exemplary human being, was given to the occasional snidely anti-Semitic remark.
Which inhibited me from raising the subject.
After his death, I finally asked my grandmother. Then in her 90's, she claimed
to be unsure. But her response was so evasive, I was convinced it was true.
20 years later, "23 and Me" proved I was right, though the percentage of my
"Ashkenazy" blood was disappointingly small--my Jewish ancestor would have been
one of my grandfather's great-great-grandparents, and all this would have occurred
back in Germany ca. 1800. Still, germ perhaps of a fascinating (though extremely
challenging) novel of "forbidden love"--a sort of Mittel-European "Romeo and Juliet."
rumor in our family (delivered by my mother in hushed tones) that her father's
German-American family had some Jewish blood. This was rather surprising (or
perhaps not?), because my grandfather, though in most ways a wonderful, even
exemplary human being, was given to the occasional snidely anti-Semitic remark.
Which inhibited me from raising the subject.
After his death, I finally asked my grandmother. Then in her 90's, she claimed
to be unsure. But her response was so evasive, I was convinced it was true.
20 years later, "23 and Me" proved I was right, though the percentage of my
"Ashkenazy" blood was disappointingly small--my Jewish ancestor would have been
one of my grandfather's great-great-grandparents, and all this would have occurred
back in Germany ca. 1800. Still, germ perhaps of a fascinating (though extremely
challenging) novel of "forbidden love"--a sort of Mittel-European "Romeo and Juliet."
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more