Advance praise has come from the likes ofCrazy Rich Asiansmastermind Kevin Kwan and No.
1 best-sellingDaisy Jones and the Sixauthor Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Ahead of the book’s publication, EW quizzed Janetti on his literary obsessions.
Credit: Courtesy Gary Janetti; Flatiron Books
Read on for his literary crush, his favorite childhood read, and much more.
My favorite books as a child:Salem’s Lot, byStephen KingandMommy Dearest, by Christina Crawford.
I loved to be frightened and I loved fabulous women screaming at children.
Alex Bailey/Focus Features
The book that cemented me as a writer:The World According to Garp, by John Irving.
I read it when I was 13.
I knew I wanted to do that, whatever that was.
The last book that made me laugh:Normal People, by Sally Rooney.
The last book that made me cry:Same book.
The book I’ve read over and over:David Copperfield, by [Charles] Dickens.
I love the book and the movie equally.
Book people might be surprised to learn I love:Watership Down, by Richard Adams.
A book I pretended to have read but I haven’t:Remembrance of Things Past, by Proust.
My literary crush:Truman Capote, the same person wroteBreakfast at Tiffany’sandIn Cold Blood!
Runner up: Flannery O' Connor: ReadA Good Man is Hard to Findnow.)
My literary hero:David Copperfield and Celie, fromThe Color Purple.
(Runner up: Holden Caulfield.)
What I’m reading right now:Giovanni’s Room, byJames Baldwin.
His writing is like a living thing.
The book that changed my life:All of them.
