A few weeks ago at dinner my brother asked everybody at the table what writers we go back to reread. What a great question! Much more interesting than who’s your favorite writer, which I always find impossible to answer. But who do you go back to reread? This is a whole other matter. Especially for writers, because we’re rereading to learn, to figure out our writing problems through other writers.

There are certain writers I reread because they remind me why I’m a writer as well as teach me. Lately (because I’m writing fiction): Annie Proulx who can pack whole lives into paragraphs and move me to tears with a single sentence. Michael Cunningham , (and I’m still trying to unlock the puzzle of how he makes me love his characters so much). And Julia Glass who makes the writing of fiction (which I find pretty torturous) look effortless. Her prose sings and zips a long, as if she’s having the time of her life telling us this story. 

Those are the writers whose books I have stacked next to my computer this week, and every time I get stuck in my own pedestrian prose and can’t remember how to even construct a sentence, let alone plot and character, I dip into one of their books and the lonely act of writing becomes a little friendlier.

It doesn’t really matter who you reread, you simply have to love them, and learn from them. Even if all you learn is how much you love good writing. 

What writers do you reread? Let us know