"These are some of Tennessee Williams’s short plays, ones that were rarely performed or produced. I particularly like “The Rain,” as it’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever read. Also “27 Wagons Full of Cotton.” It was the precursor to “Baby Doll,” although even Kazan’s film softened some of its edges."

"What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins? … renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning author and scientist Jared Diamond explores how the extraordinary human animal, in a remarkably short time, developed the capacity to rule the world … and the means to irrevocably destroy it."

"I’ve been touring recently, so I’ve been reading Joe Dunthorne’s The Adulterants. It’s a slim, short novel for taking on the road, and it’s very funny. It’s set in the backdrop of the riots that took place in the UK a few years ago, so it’s light and grotesque at the same time."

"When I was asked by my publisher to write a novel in their new series of novels based on Shakespeare-plays, I said yes, if I can have “Macbeth.” Why? Because it’s bloody. And short. And quite good. I don’t know if it was because of that answer, but they gave me “Macbeth.”"