Memeing of life

Wooh, I got tagged with a meme by someone I've never actually met. How very blogospherical. Here goes:

1. One book you have read more than once - Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

An obvious choice for an Arsenal boy, but it's an easy read that covers a lot more ground than the football theme suggests: masculinity, responsibility, Gus Caesar.

2. One book you would want on a desert island - Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

I suppose you would need something long, substantial and life-affirming. This is both hilarious and ingenious, plus it contains great typographical gags including some illustrative squiggles and a black page to commemorate the death of a character. I think it would keep me going in hard times.

3. One book that made you laugh - The Complete Yes, Prime Mister by Jonathan Lynn & Anthony Jay

Brilliantly adapted from the TV show, this is my ultimate comfort read.

4. One book that made you cry - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

I probably cry more at movies than at books - "You're mother can't be with you any more, Bambi" Blub! - but I was full on sobbing at the ending to this one. It's not even particularly sad, I just found it extremely affecting.

5. One book you wish you had written - Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Structurally dazzling, narratively gripping, hilarious and in the most perfect prose ever written. I was reading a lot of Nabokov when I was supposed to be doing creative writing as an undergrad. I would hack out something that I considered just about passable, then I'd read some of this and weep long and hard into my warm beer. I ended up failing.

6. One book you wish had never been written - Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

I had to read it to complete my 100 novels thing. Sheer tedium - 1600 pages of it.

7. One book you are currently reading - Mapp & Lucia by E.F.Benson

Pleasant English whimsy in the vein of Wodehouse.

8. One book you have been meaning to read - The Bible

I'm gradually working my way through it. What a very strange thing to base your life around.

9. One book that changed your life - Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

This is tough. I could give easily justified answers for albums (Screamadelica) or movies (Vertigo). I plumped for this cos I gave it to M on our first date and she was impressed, so Maupin could take some credit for the existence of my baby girl. Marvellous how the world works.

10. Now tag five people:

I don't know five people