We occasionally ask writers about books they've read that have inspired and informed their own work. This week, we contacted novelist Katharine Weber, author most recently of the award-winning Triangle. She graciously sent us these picks:
Krazy & Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty by George Herriman. "The early years of Krazy and Ignatz and their complex relationship as shown in the first daily strips, in the years before Offissa Pup arrived to enforce the law. Think of Krazy as Ego, Ignatz as Id, and Offissa Pup as the Super Ego -- or just enjoy this incredibly beautiful volume as an introduction to the fantastically intriguing world of Krazy Kat."
Edwin Mullhouse the Life and Death of an An American Writer by Steven Milhauser. "This 1972 debut novel by one of our great under-rated novelists never fails me, and I have probably read it a dozen times. It's hilarious, moving, and profoundly original. It's the novel that gave me permission to become a novelist."
The Comforters by Muriel Spark. "One of the world's strangest first novels, published in 1957. Spark was battling a transient madness, and in these pages she harnessed those voices to write herself back to sanity while creating a brilliant and uncanny novel."
