Ask the Author: Pamela Paul
Answered Questions (14)
Pamela Paul
I do! Every time I finish a book. Thank you so much for your kind note.
Pamela Paul
Thank you! So glad to hear. Here's the link: https://www.nytimes.com/column/book-r.... And you can always email books@nytimes.com.
Pamela Paul
I have an easy answer to this though I realize it's not for everyone. My kids do not have devices. My husband has an iPad that he will let them use most weekends for 30 minutes each. But I've told my kids they are not allowed to have phones until high school and only then if they purchase them and pay for them on their own. I realize this is not easy to do against the pro-tech tide, but I think in the long run, the better kids are able to learn to navigate the world without technology, the more creative and balanced their approach to technology will be should they choose to use it in the future, whether to work in tech or to use it recreationally. I answer this knowing that some people will consider this an extreme choice and that it's not for everyone. But just the way we've chosen to handle tech in my family.
Pamela Paul
Hi Kate, sorry for the delay in responding. A book review is definitely its own form, and the biggest mistake people make is writing a book report. Or a simple, overly formulaic book review with a bit of plot summary, a little judgment here and there, a caveat (or "to be sure...") paragraph saying what's wrong with the book. It's important to give readers a good sense of what the book is, how it fits into what's already been written on the subject or written by other authors, how it fits in to the author's body of work, what works and what doesn't, and finally, to give a good sense of the writing in the book. Many reviewers neglect to quote from the book itself -- potential readers will want to know if they like the author's style or voice! Finally, a good book review is like any other good piece of writing -- it should be stylish, lively, entertaining, vivid and informative. A little humor never hurts, too.
Pamela Paul
I love that you've included dead people in your question. If only! And that makes the question almost impossible to answer, at least with a single name. The four that leap immediately to mind, simply because I am in awe of their writing and would love to know more about where they drew their own reading pleasure, inspiration and solace are Edith Wharton, Joseph Conrad, Thomas Mann and George Eliot. I know a bit about what Eliot liked to read, having read her letters. But I'd love to know more.
Pamela Paul
My (very) full time job is editing The New York Times Book Review, so any other writing I get to do is bonus, which generally means that it gets squeezed into the small period of time between my children's bedtime and my own. For now, I am using that time to read.
Pamela Paul
I think the hardest thing for many writers in the past has been getting a foot in the door. But today, the door is wide open -- on the Internet. If a writer is interested in what's going on in the cooking world in Poland, she can go to Poland, set up a blog, inform and enlighten readers about that entire world. And the next time an editor is looking for a good writer to do a piece on Polish cuisine, she'll know exactly where to find the right person.
Pamela Paul
I get to do the one thing I've always wanted to do other than read. If I weren't a writer, I'd have wanted to be a cartoonist or a cabaret singer. But I can't really draw or sing.
Pamela Paul
The idea stemmed naturally from the By the Book column, which I started two years ago in the Sunday New York Times Book Review. I have to confess that I always hoped that one day, the columns might be put together to make a book. It just seemed natural to collect the columns together in one place and find a way to make the whole even "bigger" and better than the sum of its parts.
Pamela Paul
This is really a book for serious or seriously curious readers -- it's about what books the authors you like best are reading. The books they loved as children, the books that made them who they are today, the books they eagerly recommend to their best friends. What I hear most often from readers of "By the Book" is that they found themselves scribbling down title after title of books they want to get when they next go to the library. Bookstore owners have told me that customers will come in with a page of By the Book torn out from The New York Times Book Review and titles marked up. One woman told me that a customer came in with Ann Patchett's By the Book and just said, "I want every single book on this page."
Pamela Paul
I feel like I should feel terrible for admitting this, but I've never had writer's block. I have the opposite problem, if anything. I have writer's flowwww. It just pours out of me and I lose all track of time and I can't stop writing and OH NO! it's 11pm already and I just need to write one more sentence, but if I do I'll be so tired, but if I don't I might forget and wait, how is it 2am already?
Pamela Paul
Thanks so much!
Pamela Paul
For a book to be considered for review, the publisher should send a galley or review copy 3 to 6 months prior to publication to The New York Times Book Review, 620 Eighth Avenue, NY NY 10018.
Pamela Paul
I am constantly surprised by the answers! Nobody has confessed yet to New Adult, but the two time Man Booker Prize-winner, Hilary Mantel, is a big self-help reader. "I'm a self-help queen," she said, "dedicated to continuous improvement." I probably should have known better, but I was delighted by how literary Sting's tastes are and how all-around funny and likable Emma Thompson is. I was also heartened by how many writers have trouble with Joyce's "Ulysses."
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