Amy Stewart

Amy Stewart

1. When were you happiest?

Last Wednesday.

2. What is your principal defect?

Hmmm – I guess I worry too much.

3. What makes you depressed?
Chilly, rainy weather. There’s a bit too much of that where I live. If anybody has a guest house in a sunny, tropical or desert location, please get in touch. I’m not a very entertaining guest, but I’ll dedicate a book to you if you let me stay there often enough.

4. What do you most dislike about your appearance?

Nothing. I just don’t have that kind of time. Sometimes I realize that I’ve gone all day without looking in a mirror. If it were possible to spend less time thinking about my appearance than I already do, I would do that.

5. What is your favourite word?

I pass on this question. There’s sort of a false profoundity to it—choosing a word that is beautiful but also sort of unexpected and obscure and offers a glimpse into some essential personality trait—I can’t do it.

6. What is your most unappealing habit?

Oh, no! I’m sure I have many. Fortunately, the people around me keep their opinions to themselves. I try to do the same.

7. What is your favourite smell?

Just about any flower. Tuberrose, lilac, jasmine. I also love the way New York smells—and I’m referring to a particular subway smell that sort of wafts up into the streets. It’s sort of a cross between tire rubber and cigarette smoke and car exhaust.

8. What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Gin and fried foods. Preferably together.

9. Who are your favourite writers?

E.B. White. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Dorothy Parker. Anne Tyler. Geoff Dyer. Nick Hornby. Ha Jin. Richard Ford. I could go on and on—these are just the authors whose books I can see from where I’m sitting.

10. What is the worst job you've done?

I don’t really look back on any of the jobs I’ve had as the worst. I had a few boring jobs at the mall as a college student, and a few dull office jobs, and a very sad and stressful job at an AIDS organization, but none of them were the worst—they’re just jobs, meaning that they have to pay people to show up and do them.

11. When did you last cry, and why?

Oh, maybe a month or so ago. It wasn’t a big deal—I think I just hurt myself.

12. What do you most value in you friends?

Being around. I’m frustrated that my friends are all so busy. Then again, so am I.

13. What gift would you most like to possess?

I wish I could sing. I have the annoying habit of being able to remember all the lyrics to just about any song I’ve ever heard, even the obscure third and fourth verses. They rattle around in my head constantly. I can’t listen to any music when I write, even instrumental jazz, because I know all the words and they completely dominate the discussion in my head. My dad is a musician and he’s played with a lot of singers who don’t know the words. I know all the words, I just can’t sing. I will add, however, that I don’t think singing or playing an instrument or making any kind of art is a ‘gift.’ It can all be taught. I don’t have any special gifts; I just work hard.

14. What was your most embarrassing moment?

I’m afraid to even go back and catalog them all. Pass.

15. What is your most treasured possession?
I love my house. It’s old by California standards—1905—and really beautiful. I don’t see myself living in one house for the rest of my life, but I can’t imagine selling this one and letting somebody else live here. I’m very attached to it.

16. What is the worst thing anyone's said to you?

Whatever it was, I’ve conveniently forgotten it.

17. If you could edit your past, what would you change?

I wish I’d had more adventures in my twenties. I was so responsible, so concerned about having a decent job and saving some money. I should have traveled more. Then again, I’m doing what I want now, so I don’t regret what I did to get myself here.

18. If you could go back in time, where would you go?

Manhattan, 1920s.

19. What is your greatest fear?

That something will come along and take away what I have now. An illness, an accident—I’ve been pretty lucky so far, and sometimes I wonder how long that will last.

20. What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Don’t wait too long.