On your nightstand now:
A wad of chewing gum, Jack Daniels, a clock, a lava lamp, pepper spray, scattered M&Ms, a bounced check, stains, burn marks and a couple Tom Robbins books.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The Sea and Its Wonderful Creatures. Moray eels, predator starfish, hammerhead sharks, barracuda, fish eaten alive, a giant squid attacking a sperm whale. I patterned my life after it.
Your top five authors:
Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, J.D. Salinger, Hunter Thompson, Thomas McGuane. Also must mention William Burroughs. My strict folks weren't big readers and always confiscated my Mad magazines, but Naked Lunch was off their radar and I'd sit reading it with eyes bugging out, and they're like, "Oh, he's doing something constructive.' "
Book you've faked reading:
The Bible. Hear it's a big seller. I quote it often, but sometimes get the lines mixed up with Naked Lunch. For some reason, my conversations tend to be brief at cocktail parties.
Book you're an evangelist for:
McGuane's 92 in the Shade. One of the best and most-often overlooked Florida novels, mainly because Thomas left the state for Montana. But he married Jimmy Buffett's sister, which counts for something, although I'm not sure what.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Playboy. I mean, not Playboy. I was thinking of the Bible.
Book that changed your life:
Catch-22. You know how you sometimes stare oddly at society's incongruities like Yossarian, and it seems as if life keeps raising the number of missions? That's me all the time.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Breakfast of Champions. Vonnegut blew away The Sea and Its Wonderful Creatures.
Favorite line from a book:
"That's some catch, that Catch-22."--The Bible
