This year, our By the Book series of author interviews turned 10 — the feature made its debut in the April 15, 2012, issue, with David Sedaris in the hot seat — so to celebrate, we thought we would throw an end-of-year party. A dinner party, to be precise, since one of our recurring questions almost from the start has been: “You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?”
By design, the answers favor a certain kind of writer (witty, gregarious, charming, engaged) and, also by design, they tend to reveal a fair amount about the hosts: not only their reading habits but their social lives. “I can’t imagine myself hosting a literary dinner party,” Anne Tyler said in 2015. “What on earth would a bunch of writers talk about? I’d rather just curl up with a sandwich and read some favorite book over again on my own.”
We hear you, Anne. Still, plenty of participants have ventured to imagine what a bunch of writers might talk about, and have assembled their dream guest lists for us. Here are the 20 writers invited most often over the years, along with a sampling of quotes explaining their picks. Bon appétit.
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Shakespeare
“Only if he speaks modern English, no ‘doths’ or ‘twills!’”
Bob Odenkirk
“Shakespeare. I wouldn’t want to dilute that experience with anyone else.”
Jane Fonda
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James Baldwin
