Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Ken Harmon

Ken Harmon is the author of The Fat Man, "a satire of traditional Christmas stories and noir" in which "a hardboiled elf is framed for murder in a North Pole world that plays reindeer games for keeps, and where favorite holiday characters live complex lives beyond December."

Last week I asked him what he was reading. His reply:
I am not one of those readers that can read multiple books at once. Confusion is not the concern, but it always feels like an illicit affair, like the other book knows it is being ignored and that the characters in the story are plotting their revenge. But this article is not about my insanity. Presently, I am reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, the first book in Edmund Morris’ trilogy. Last summer, I read, Candice Millard’s The River of Doubt about Roosevelt’s nearly fatal trip to the Amazon. I became curious about the man that would make such a trip.

Before I started the Morris trilogy, I read Mystery Man by Colin Bateman and laughed out loud at a character more insecure than me (see above comment regarding literary adultery) and before that I enjoyed Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of Pie. Quite simply, I want to adopt his 11-year old heroine Flavia de Luce. I want to adopt her and take her to my office. If you knew Flavia, if you’ve ever worked in a sea of cubes, you’d know why.
Visit Ken Harmon's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Fat Man.

--Marshal Zeringue