Binnie Brennan Book Launch!
Nova Scotia author Binnie Brennan launches her latest work, a stirring selection of short stories called A Certain Grace, today at 4pm at The Company House in Halifax. Recently she took our Proust Questionnaire.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Finally getting a toe-hold on a new story, only to run out of ink.
Where would you like to live?
Where I live now – in Halifax.
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Sitting on a sun-warmed rock on the coastal trail near Duncan’s Cove, listening to the seals making their unseemly racket.
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
My tendency to stare out the window and disappear for awhile.
Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Charlie Bucket
Who are your favorite characters in history?
Helen Keller; Elizabeth Bishop; Buster Keaton.
Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
My mum and my daughter.
Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Morag Gunn; Pippi Longstocking.
Your favorite painter?
My mum (Mary Lou Payzant).
Your favorite musician?
Ella Fitzgerald.
The quality you most admire in a man?
Honesty and humour are equally important.
The quality you most admire in a woman?
See above.
Your favorite virtue?
George Carlin once said, and I paraphrase, “If everyone drove the way I drive, there’d be no traffic problems.” What he said – it has to do with being thoughtful.
Your favorite occupation?
Being transported by a great story - could be a book, a movie, a play, or a stranger’s tale.
Who would you have liked to be?
I’m lucky to have had my top-three choices (mother, violist, writer). A fourth would be jazz singer. Ella, I’d say.