The book I am currently reading
I have just begun Space Invaders by Nona Fernández. It looks intriguing and is translated by the great Natasha Wimmer.
The book that changed my life
The character of Jo March in Little Women drew me to decide to be a writer, and leave all scientific dreams behind.
The book I wish I’d written
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi is the perfect book for any age. It addresses creation, the war between good and evil, redemption, and transfiguration in one beloved tale. I have loved it since age seven and have long wished to write something similar.
The book that had the greatest influence on my writing
Jean Genet’s The Thief’s Journal, with its mix of autobiography and poetic fiction, has given me a genre to aspire to.
The book I think is most underrated
The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace is exquisitely written. I don’t know how popular it has been, but I found it to be a jewel.
The book that changed my mind
Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game did not change, but expanded my mind, presenting an entirely new process of mapping the creative intellect.
The last book that made me cry
After surrendering to the omnipresent atmosphere of Villette by Charlotte Brontë, I was heartbroken at the book’s end. So much so, that I wrote a small alternative ending.
The last book that made me laugh
Artforum by César Aira is the latest translation in his immense output. All his brilliant little books are laced with mirth.
The book I couldn’t finish
I was reading Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper when I was young. It gave me such anxiety that I threw up. I never finished it – and still can’t bear to.
The book I’m most ashamed not to have read
I have had an elegant three volume edition of The Man without Qualities by Robert Musil for a few years and have not yet tackled it. I believe it is time.
My earliest reading memory
Falling in love with books before I could read. I was certain they contained treasure, and reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses I found I was right.
The book I give as a gift
The Children’s Crusade by Marcel Schwob, because it is so beautiful.
The book I’d most like to be remembered for
Woolgathering, as it is the purest expression of my imagination.
• Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith is published by Bloomsbury (RRP £12.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 020-3176 3837. Free UK p&p over £15, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
