Ravi Mangla, On Reading

"The ability and desire to create art is a defining characteristic of the human species, yet another quality that separates us from our animal relatives. Which is to say, after finishing a good short story or poem I have this powerful urge to go outside and taunt the neighbor’s cat, flap a book cover in front of a terrified squirrel, but with considerable difficulty I resist. Why? Because reading teaches empathy. And empathy is pretty damn important. Books continue to further my evolution as a writer and as a human being."


{Ravi Mangla's short fiction has appeared or will appear soon in Mid-American Review, Gargoyle, Annalemma, Sleepingfish, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and elsewhere. He is the Associate Series Editor for the annual Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions. Visit his website here and his collection of reading lists here.}