Christopher Caldwell, a Marblehead, Mass. native, has known he wanted to be a writer since at least junior high. Back then, though, the Financial Times columnist and New York Times Magazine contributing writer thought he would write books like the ones he enjoyed reading – books about sports, John Steinbeck, “macho fiction of the Hemingway sort” and “potboiler-type novels that my mother used to read.” Lucky for his readers, perhaps, his upcoming release, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe doesn’t quite fit. Read on for more of his reflections.
Q. What’s your favorite word?
A. Like. I like the way it looks. It’s got a real sparseness to it.
Q. What inspires you?
A. Reading.
Q. What comforts you?
A. Tea.
Q. What do you find beautiful?
A. The ocean.
Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?
A. Home.
Q. What is your most prized material possession?
A. My house.
Q. What is your greatest extravagance?
A. Sushi. That sounds pretty lame. I should have more expensive habits.
Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. Ball games I went to with my dad. Going to Boston Garden to watch the Bruins in a dirty old collapsing building. It was just this veil of cigar smoke and this smell of spilt beer.
Q. Who is your favorite Beatle and why?
A. That’s a really really tough one, and I’ve thought about it a lot. My favorite Beatle is George Harrison, but I think the best Beatle is Paul McCartney. That question is generally a way of figuring out whether you’re a John person or a Paul person, and the George Harrison answer is my way of avoiding the question.
Q. Who is the one person living or dead that you’d love to have a beer with?
A. I’d like to have a cup of tea with George Elliot.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.