Lennard Davis, author of Obsession: A History, has lived in New York most of his life, and has worn black much of the while. “I was seven years old and I decided I look good in black. I had a little black suit,” he said. “I was always super aware of death.” Below, Davis lets us in on more of his background — including his thoughts on one of his former students, Barack Obama.

Q. What do you wake up to?
A. My cat, usually nudging me for food or to go out.

Q. What music have you listened to today?
A. I listened to some classical music on the radio in the hotel room. I think it was “Pictures At An Exhibition.”

Q. What’s your favorite word?
A. Fremitus. When you put your hand to your chest, the vibration that you feel when you speak is the fremitus.

Q. How would you describe yourself in five words or fewer?
A. Inquisitive, persistent, funny, complex, examining.

Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A. An astronomer.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?
A. I have two but I guess I’ll say a Negroni, straight up, with Hendricks gin.

Q. What is your greatest extravagance?
A. I just bought 26 acres of land, so I guess that would have to be it.

Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?
A. Somewhere in the South Seas.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?
A. A filmmaker.

Q. If you were about to be executed, what would you want for your final meal?
A. Another meal.

Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. Eating a pastrami sandwich at my local deli.

Q. What is your most prized material possession?
A. Right now I have to say my iPhone.

Q. What promise do you make to yourself that you break the most often?
A. Not to get angry. Not to yell.

Q. What should you throw away but haven’t been able to part with?
A. I have so many books, so I probably should go through some of them and pass them on.

Q. Who is the one person living or dead that you’d most love to have a beer with?
A. Right now? I guess Obama. He was actually my student when I was a professor at Columbia 1983. But at that time, he was kind of forgettable…. I got a call from The New York Times saying they were doing a story on Obama and they had his transcript and they wanted to know what I thought of him. I had no recollection. He didn’t stand out, let’s say. But it wasn’t his thing, he was a poli sci major…. I’d still like to think everything he learned, he knows he learned from me.

To read more about Davis’ talk, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.