On tour: Patrick deWitt

Canadian author Patrick deWitt’s latest novel Undermajordomo Minor (Granta) is a black comedy of manners. He will be visiting the Perth Writers Festival and Adelaide Writers’ Week in February.

What would you put on a shelf-talker for your latest book?

A rendering of Benny Hill dressed as Napoleon with his pants around his ankles.

What are you reading right now?

I’m re-reading Mysteries by Knut Hamsun (Souvenir Press).

What are you planning to read next?

Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick (New York Review of Books).

Which book do you always recommend?

The last couple of years it’s been The Big Why by Michael Winter (Bloomsbury US).

What was the defining book of your childhood?

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (Penguin), maybe?

If you were a literary character you’d be …

Some days Miss Havisham, some days Colonel Kurtz.

What’s your favourite book adaptation (film, television or theatre)?

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

Hardback, paperback or digital?

Paperback.

Facebook or Twitter?

Is there no third option?

In 50 years’ time books will be …

Books.

(Photo credit: Danny Palmerlee.)

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