Welcome to the Book Marks Questionnaire, where we ask authors questions about the books that have shaped them.
This week, we spoke to the Dylan Thomas Prize-winning author of Lot , Bryan Washington.
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Book Marks: First book you remember loving?
BW: The Taste of Jamaica by Enid Donaldson.
BM: Favorite re-read?
BW: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami.
BM: What book do you think your book is most in conversation with?
BW: Vida by Patricia Engel, Real World by Natsuo Kirino, American Son by Brian Ascalon Roley, The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez, A Good Fall by Ha Jin, We The Animals by by Justin Torres.
BM: A book that blew your mind?
BW: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang, How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.
BM: Last book you read?
BW: Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang.
BM: A book that made you cry?
BW: The Yellow House by Sarah Broom; Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri.
BM: What book from the past year would you like to give a shout-out to?
BW: New Waves by Kevin Nguyen.
BM: A book that actually made you laugh out loud?
BW: Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby; Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams.
BM: What’s one book you wish you had read during your teenage years?
BW: Dear Cyborgs by Eugene Lim.
BM: Favorite book to give as a gift?
BW: Bread and a Dog by Natsuko Kuwahara.
BM: What’s a book with a really great sex scene?
BW: Mundo Cruel by Luis Negron.
BM: Favorite book of the 21st century?
BW: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.
BM: Book(s) you’re reading right now?
BW: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett; Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.
BM: Favorite children’s book?
BW: And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
BM: Book you wish would be adapted for a film/tv show?
BW: Walking On the Ceiling by Aysegül Savas; The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa
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Bryan Washington is a National Book Award 5 Under 35 honoree and the author of the collection, Lot, and the forthcoming novel, Memorial. He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The Paris Review, Tin House, One Story, Bon Appétit, GQ, The Awl, and Catapult. He lives in Houston.
Bryan Washington’s Lot is now available in paperback from Riverhead
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