“Subversive, Eclectic and Sometimes a Bit Vulgar”

Today Gothamist’s Ben Kharakh offers up an interview with occasional January Magazine contributor Tracy Quan (Diary of A Married Call Girl). As always, Quan is articulate, erudite and an absolute delight. At one point Kharakh asks about Quan’s reading habits when she was growing up:

My tastes were all over the place. I read Black Power tracts by Stokely Carmichael, and I read as much sexual advice as I could find, but I also enjoyed all the normal kid stuff: Pippi Longstocking, Babar, Harriet the Spy, Charlotte’s Web, and The Borrowers. I loved popular entertainment, and rejected the literary snob thing early on. When I was 12, my step dad noticed that I was reading a YA novel with a rather frivolous theme. He lectured me about having the stereotypical reading habits of a “jeune fille.” I remember thinking, “That’s what I am, you idiot.” I was always, deep down, a girly girl and I loved gossipy books that were written for adolescent girls. I was a total omnivore and still am.

You can read the interview here.

Also today in Gothamist, a short item on first lady Laura Bush’s announcement of funding for school libraries:

The first lady, a former school librarian, announced a $1.3 million grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for school libraries across the country to update their book collections. Twenty-eight schools in the city will get grants up to $5,000, including the the Island School on East Houston.

This is good news, for sure. But the Quan interview is a lot more fun.