Douglas Stuart on James Baldwin, 'The Sellout,' and the Book That Broke His Heart
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Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.
Douglas Stuart wrote much of his second novel, coming-of-age tale Young Mungo (Grove Press), before his 2020 debut Shuggie Bain won the Booker Prize, which eased the pressure of producing a sophomore effort. It took Stuart a decade to write his first novel, which was rejected by more than 40 publishers.
The first in his family to graduate high school, he went to the Scottish College of Textiles (his late mother taught him how to knit) then the Royal College of Art in London, where his minimalist collection landed him a designer job at Calvin Klein. He also worked for Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, and Jack Spade. (When he moved to New York, he didn’t own a winter coat; after he won the Booker, he splurged on a Savile Row suit.)
The Scotland-born, New York-based Stuart has talked books with the Duchess of Cornwall, been tweeted about by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, and Instagrammed by Drake and Dua Lipa. He’s at work on a third novel, set in the Hebrides, and the adaptation of Shuggie Bain, about a boy and his alcoholic mother in working-class 80s Glasgow, into a limited series for A24 with Stephen Daldry attached as director.
Likes: Photography by Raymond Depardon, Tish Murtha, and Chris Killip; Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, Bridget Everett, painter Clive Smith, Catskills hikes, Isle of Lewis. Dislikes: Zoom book events. (Shuggie Bain came out a month before the pandemic lockdown.) Catch him in the wild.
The book that…
…broke my heart:
My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay is a powerful memoir about the author growing up Black in 70s Britain, and spending his childhood lost in the care system. It’s about a young man’s quest to find his real mother, his family and know where he belongs. You just want to reach through the pages and hug him.
…made me weep uncontrollably:
Not uncontrollably, but I always cry at the final abandonment in Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. I know it’s coming—and I wish it would be different—but it gets me every time.
…I recommend over and over again:
As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann is historical fiction set at the time of the English Civil War. It follows two foot soldiers in Cromwell’s army who fall in love with each other, before their desire slides into jealous obsession. It like a queer Hilary Mantel. It is so well-researched and immersive you’ll just sink into the lovers’ world.
…currently sits on my nightstand:
I’m reading Manifesto by Bernardine Evaristo and finding it so inspiring. It’s an account of her perseverance in the arts and her fight to make her voice heard, which culminates in her becoming the first ever Black British person, and the first ever Black woman, to win the Booker Prize.
...I read in one sitting, it was that good:
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is a marvel. It’s a thin novella about an ordinary Irish father who cannot look the other way when he sees a woman being mistreated. This tale of everyday heroism is quietly stunning. Its only flaw is it leaves you wanting more.
…kept me up way too late:
I’m a Cormac McCarthy fan. But the serial killer in the Southern horror, Child of God, does things that are so despicable that it gave me many sleepless nights.
…made me laugh out loud:
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood is a rare wonder. The author is razor-sharp as she takes us through the absurdities of internet living, but when the narrative shifts in the second half, and her family reel from personal tragedy, I was left in bits.
…I’d like turned into a Netflix show:
I would love to see them remake Maurice by E.M. Forster, but continuing the narrative all the way through William di Canzio’s suggested sequel, Alec. Let’s follow the lovers, Maurice and Scudder, through their first meeting on opposite sides of the class divide, right up through their love affair as World War I rages and the world changes around them.
…has a sex scene that will make you blush:
I don’t blush at sex scenes, but I find The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst to be one of the sexiest novels I have read. I love that it’s an unapologetic look at queer desire and causal encounters in London, set in the heady, hedonistic twilight before the horror of AIDS changes everything.
...makes me feel seen:
A book that really speaks to me is A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines. It’s a British classic about a boy from a dysfunctional family, who is soon destined to be working down the coal mines. But first he experiences this rare summer of joy and freedom when he finds and trains a kestrel. The movie it inspired, Kes, by Ken Loach is equally as moving.
…I swear I'll finish one day:
Critics describe Shuggie Bain as Dickensian so it may surprise you that I have never read any Dickens. I’m more of a Thomas Hardy man.
...everyone should read:
The Sellout by Paul Beatty is a satire about a young Black man challenging racial concepts until he goes too far, and it lands him before the Supreme Court. It is whip smart and horrifying at the same time.
...I’d want signed by the author:
The Story of the Night by Colm Tóibín is a book I really treasure. Just putting it out there…
...surprised me:
Old Filth by Jane Gardam really surprised me. People kept recommending it, but I didn’t think a novel about an aging British barrister would appeal to me—I was so wrong. It is so human and engaging, the wonderful start to a really absorbing trilogy.
...has an opening I loved:
I was hooked on Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan from the very start. It begins as the Devil’s daughter rows her own coffin across the ocean and opens with the lines: “My father’s corpse stares out across the North Atlantic swells. Grey eyes. Eyelashes adorned with beads of rain.” The pace never lets up from here.
Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:
I am really in love with Three Lives & Company in the West Village in New York. You can browse books all day and then pop up the road for a pint at the legendary Julius’ bar.
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