Brandon Hobson, On Reading

I read as a kid and have great memories of my mom reading to me. I didn't read very much in high school, but in college I started reading pretty heavily. This is also when I started writing fiction. I think it's obvious how important reading is in order to be a good writer. I would rather read than watch TV--in fact, other than sports on occasion, I don't watch much TV at all. I used to stay up late nights watching cable reruns of What's Happening or Dobie Gillis, but I don't do that much anymore. But it means I'm out of the loop when everyone starts talking about Breaking Bad or Mad Men or whatever. I've never watched those shows. There's so much out there I still need to read. Just knowing that is more exciting to me.

{Brandon Hobson is the author of The Levitationist (Ravenna Press) and Deep Ellum (Calamari Press). His novel Desolation of Avenues Untold is forthcoming from Civil Coping Mechanisms in 2015. His work has appeared in The Paris Review Daily, The Believer, NOON, New York Tyrant, Post Road, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere. You can read more about him here.}