MICHAEL GRUBER

'The Book of Air and Shadows' was born during a conference with an intellectual property lawyer on a particular afternoon in November of 2003.

The problem with evil people is that they can see only evil in others. It is one of the worst curses of being evil, that you can no longer experience good.

But it turns out that people who are grounded and secure don't change much under stress. That's what being grounded means.

It's part of what we call the Shadow, all the dark parts of us we can't face. It's the thing that, if we don't deal with it, eventually poisons our lives.

But there's the paradox of fiction - why do you cry when a fake character dies? It's the basis of art. You engage with people who don't exist and care about them as you would your friends and relatives.

Does it matter, when you read, if the person who wrote still lives?

As a matter of fact I had a terribly traumatic childhood. But afterward I sort of reraised myself.

I thought I would write non-fiction. I thought I would enter the New York literary scene as copy editor, work my way up, and then write my own books.

I'm a cult writer now. I have a cult readership.

Professors go batty too, perhaps more often than other people, although owing to their profession, their madness is less often remarked.

I'm a cult writer now. I have a cult readership.

But there's the paradox of fiction - why do you cry when a fake character dies? It's the basis of art. You engage with people who don't exist and care about them as you would your friends and relatives.

I thought I would write non-fiction. I thought I would enter the New York literary scene as copy editor, work my way up, and then write my own books.

'The Book of Air and Shadows' was born during a conference with an intellectual property lawyer on a particular afternoon in November of 2003.

As a matter of fact I had a terribly traumatic childhood. But afterward I sort of reraised myself.

But it turns out that people who are grounded and secure don't change much under stress. That's what being grounded means.

Does it matter, when you read, if the person who wrote still lives?

Professors go batty too, perhaps more often than other people, although owing to their profession, their madness is less often remarked.

It's part of what we call the Shadow, all the dark parts of us we can't face. It's the thing that, if we don't deal with it, eventually poisons our lives.

The problem with evil people is that they can see only evil in others. It is one of the worst curses of being evil, that you can no longer experience good.