‘They’ve delighted generations of people’: Jack Tame’s favourite New Zealand authors

Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: host of TVNZ’s Q+A, Jack Tame.

The book I wish I’d written

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Stonking journalism. Brilliant storytelling. Haunting and tragic.

The book everyone should read

Being Mortal by Atul Guwande. It’s a profound and moving examination of end-of-life care, modern medicine, what ultimately makes a good death. It’s especially relevant in the US where the provision of healthcare often focuses on the extension of life rather than quality of life, but it confronts what is an enduring taboo for many of us.

The book I want to be buried with

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. My dad read The Hound of the Baskervilles to me when I was nine or 10, and I was hooked. It ultimately led me to other detective and spy fiction (John Le Carre, Martin Cruz Smith etc), but I have re-read Sherlock Holmes more than anything else.

From left to right: The book Jack Tame wishes he’d written; the book he thinks we all need to read; and the book he’d be buried with.

The first book I remember reading by myself

As a kid I loved Osborne puzzle books. I’d get a half dozen from the library at a time and devour them. The few times in life I pulled a sickie was so that I could lie in bed and read them. Each page had a few clues through that you could use to try and solve the mystery. 

I wish I’d never read

Say Cheese and Die! (Goosebumps #4) by RL Stine. That shit spooked me out for years as a kid!

Fiction or non-fiction

Non-fiction, hard. I wish it were different but it speaks to what an unimaginative miser I really am. 

The book that haunts me

Lolita. Enough said! 

The book that made me cry

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

The book I never admit I’ve read

Infinite Jest. I love David Foster Wallace’s non-fiction, but this tome was just too much. I lived in New York for several years, and every time I saw people reading it on the subway I’d wonder if they were really just posing. 

If I could only read three books for the rest of my life they would be

AA Gill is Away by Adrian Gill. It’s brutish and beautiful. He gave all his work by dictation, and when reading him, more than any other writer, I slip into that glorious place where I’m totally unaware of anything around me. 

Raiders of the Deep by Lowell Thomas. The man who brought TE Lawrence to global prominence also wrote an extraordinary book documenting the experience of German submariners in the first world war. 

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. You’ve gotta have a laugh.  

Lynley Dodd, Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy: three of Jack Tame’s great Aotearoa writers.

Encounter with an author

I interviewed Karl Ove Knausgaard once and had a coffee with him afterwards. As we sat there, I couldn’t stop imagining him analysing the situation and recording every minute detail, à la My Struggle. The rim of the tulip cup, the leg of the table, the mauve ceiling panels… etc.

Greatest New Zealand writer

Lynley Dodd. I have a toddler, and over the past 18 months I’ve come to properly appreciate the genius of her work. The language is so joyous! Not to mention the illustrations… ! Between them, Dodd, Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy have delighted generations of people. What an amazing gift. ...