Welcome to the Book Marks Questionnaire, where we ask authors questions about the books that have shaped them.
This week, we spoke to the author of Bestiary (out now in paperback), K-Ming Chang.
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Book Marks: First book you remember loving?
K-Ming Chang: Corduroy by Don Freeman.
(And an illustrated children’s version of The Monkey King!)
BM: Favorite re-read?
KMC: The Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin.
BM: What book do you think your book is most in conversation with?
KMC: Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen by Marilyn Chin.
BM: A book that blew your mind?
KMC: Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge.
BM: What book from the past year would you like to give a shout-out to?
KMC: The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala.
BM: Classic book on your To Be Read pile?
KMC: The Water Margin by Shi Nai’an.
BM: Favorite book you were assigned in high school?
KMC: Beloved by Toni Morrison.
BM: Book(s) you’re reading right now?
KMC: How to Wrestle a Girl by Venita Blackburn.
BM: Favorite children’s book?
KMC: D’aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths.
BM: Book you wish would be adapted for a film/tv show?
KMC: Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the New York Times Editors’ Choice novel Bestiary (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her short story collection, Gods of Want, is forthcoming from One World in June 2022. More of her work can be found at kmingchang.com.
K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary is out now in paperback from One World
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