Andy Martin: A Self Portrait
Andy Martin Revealed
About Andy Martin
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. Started out mature and studious, becoming increasingly irresponsible.
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. Of making many books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. Reading a good book while drinking a latte and finally surfing the perfect wave. On the other hand, I always hesitate to write 'happy birthday' to anyone, because I don't like to insist that people ought to be happy, not even on their birthday.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. In my nightmares, playing the part of Hamlet without having read the script. In reality it has more to do with hair-loss.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii
- Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
- A. Napoleon, but more on account of an imperfect command of the French language rather than desire for world domination
- Q. Which living person do you most admire?
- A. My wife
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. 'Somebody stop me!'
- Q. What do you regret most?
- A. skipping music practice as a kid
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. Playing the saxophone effortlessly, whilst leaning against a wall
- Q. What is your greatest achievement?
- A. Attaining a state of philosophical and zen-like detachment in the face of the last bad review
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. Laughing at my own jokes
- Q. What’s your best quality?
- A. Coming up with the jokes to start with
- Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
- A. Clint Eastwood
- Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
- A. White hair - if I wear a hat I practically disappear
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. d'Artagnan/Jack Reacher
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. Professor Moriarty
- Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
- A. Friedrich Nietzche - 'That is a hell of a moustache you've got there, Herr Nietzsche'
- Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
- A. People wearing t-shirts in really cold weather - really, what is the point?
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Walking the dog
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. Pro surfer
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Courage, self-discipline, and not overdoing the two previous
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. porridge
- Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
- A. Blue Moon, Space Oddity, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Paranoid Android, Life on Mars
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. Borges Stendhal Hemingway Camus Mailer
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Claude Levi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift Georges Perec, Attempt at an Exhaustive Description of a Parisian Square
- Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
- A. The Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw
- Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
- A. Make it strange
- Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
- A. 'Awesome' and 'how come X is not in print any more'
