What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Reading a good novel in bed.
What is your greatest fear?
Not making a difference.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Arrogance.
Which living person do you most admire?
My mother, who at age 81 has tremendous optimism, enthusiasm, and love of life.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying too many novels.
What is your current state of mind?
Optimistic about the future.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience.
On what occasion do you lie?
I try to avoid lying.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Lack of tallness.
Which living person do you most despise?
The AC repairman who didn’t show up.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Sense of humor.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Ditto.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What an awesome question!
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My husband.
When and where were you happiest?
When my daughters were born.
Which talent would you most like to have?
A great singing voice.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
See above.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My children.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Flaubert’s parrot.
Where would you most like to live?
Hard to say—I’ve lived in 10 cities and loved them all.
What is your most treasured possession?
A great early drawing by the artist Peter Saul, obtained from a distinguished collector.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Finishing my novel before the plane lands.
What is your favorite occupation?
Museum director, of course.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Attention to detail.
What do you most value in your friends?
Kindness, loyalty, forgiveness.
Who are your favorite writers?
Jane Austen and Barbara Pym.
Who is your hero of fiction?
Captain Jack Aubrey.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
On a good day, General Grant. On a bad day, General Custer.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Our guards at the museum, who are untiring and unfailingly terrific.
What are your favorite names?
Anne and Emma.
What is it that you most dislike?
Rudeness.
What is your greatest regret?
So many novels, so little time.
How would you like to die?
Quickly.
What is your motto?
Keep the ship afloat and headed in the right direction.
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