George Saunders

She had two brothers who would tell stories and just the way that when they came into a room, everyone was so happy to see them because they knew a story was coming.

And when they left, everyone was a little sad.

So I thought, oh, that's a superpower to be a pleasure to be around because of the stories that you're bringing.

What about kind of a formal cultural upbringing?

Were there books in the house?

Neither of my parents had been to college.

So there were these interesting books called Reader's Digest Condensed Books.

So they were novels that had been pared down to the essence.

And I kind of circled around those and read them.

And my father was, though he hadn't been to college, I think he was moving around in circles of people who had been to college.

And so he would bring home books that were, well, for example, he brought home Machiavelli, The Prince.

Have George read this.

And so I read it, you know.

And he also brought home, I remember, The Other Side of America by Michael Harrington, which was an exploration of poverty.

And he just said he needs to read this.

He was gone a lot.

So when he said read a book, I would read it.

Very.

In fact, when I got into my 20s, I started wearing cowboy boots and trying to be a cowboy.

My mother had a warmth.