" I read like an animal. I read under the covers, I read lying in the grass, I read at the dinner table. While other people were talking to me I read. When I was twelve my mother—who has also read an impressive amount—gave me Portnoy’s Complaint. To this day I have no idea what she was thinking. The scene with the Italian whore boggled my mind. I loved it. I finished it and then I started it again. Who wouldn’t? Especially if you’re twelve.

— nicole krauss on her experiences with literature as a child, from this interview.