Life is Good

A Sample:

Daniel Pinkwater has written lots of books, including many books for kids. He says about himself (using the third person), "Daniel Pinkwater is crazy about writing, and has been trying to learn how to do it for 50 years. He has written about a hundred books, all but two or three of them good." Among other things, he is a good interview subject. For example, when asked, "What fictional character would you like to be your friend, and why?," he replied, "Moby Dick, because except for Ishmael he is the only character who does not get killed at the end of the book, and having a gigantic white whale for a friend would be cool."

Daniel's most memorable teacher was a man named Thrasher Hall, who taught summer school and was excited about literature. He also communicated his excitement to his students. Daniel remembers another student in the class: Hiram. This student was not rich, as he had only one white shirt, which his loving mother would wash and iron each night so he could wear it again the next day. Daniel says, "One day, he turned up with a paperback copy of Macbeth which he had bought himself. I asked him why he had spent money on the book when Mr. Hall gave us daily installments of the play via phonograph records. Hiram said he couldn't wait to find out how the story came out."

By the way, when Daniel was a kid, guess what he wanted to be when he grew up? "The greatest swordsman in France."