But What About People Who Aren’t Mermaids?

I stumbled across this interview of Amy Shearn, the author of the amazing novel The Mermaid of Brooklyn, which I loved and couldn’t recommend more highly. Here, she’s asked a particularly inane question, and responds cleverly about the power of good fiction.

How can women who don’t have children appreciate this book?

One of my favourite all-time novels is Moby Dick, and I have never been on a whale ship, nor do I ever hope to be. I also love The Sun Also Rises, and I am not an expatriate and I have never seen a bullfight. I adore The Cather in The Rye, and yet, I am not a young boy running away from boarding school.

I happen to think Holden Caulfield is a whiny little prat, but what a brilliant answer to the question!

Via The Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn

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