Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Keith Dixon

Keith Dixon is an editor for the New York Times.

Ghostfires, his first novel, was named one of the five best first novels of 2004 by Poets & Writers magazine.

His new novel, The Art of Losing, was published in February.

I recently asked him what he was reading. His reply:
I'm most of the way through Martin Amis's Money -- I'm beginning to think I have some sort of literary crush on Amis, as I can't stop reading (and rereading) his stuff and marveling at what he has going on on the page. I finished his House of Meetings about two days after it hit the shelves and was awestruck by how far his tone and style have advanced. I'd always had The Information pegged as his best but I think House of Meetings runs neck and neck with it.

I just finished reading Bill Buford's Heat -- I adored it, mostly because I'm a food-and-cooking-freak who can't seem to get enough of good snarly food writing, and Heat has plenty of that.

Before Heat, I read Graham Greene's The End of the Affair -- what a startling book! So brief and yet so powerful, so symmetrical, and with such a heart-rending finish. I'm not surprised I enjoyed it so, as The Third Man is my favorite film.

So, what's next? My father and I were talking last night about Kidnapped -- I'm a sucker for R.L. Stevenson, so I'm sure I'll go pick up a little paperback and have at it. After that? Well, I just finished the 1st draft of my third novel, so I suppose I'll settle in with that.
Visit Keith Dixon's website to learn more about his novels.

The Page 69 Test: The Art of Losing.

--Marshal Zeringue