Get to know Canada Reads author M.G. Vassanji

M.G. Vassanji appreciates the forcefulness of Jody Mitic, who defended Vassanji's novel Nostalgia during the Canada Reads 2017 debates.

Watch Vassanji answer a series of rapid-fire questions from Mitic, including the giggle-inducing research he once did for a book.

Canada Reads took place March 27–30, 2017. Check out all the details and get to know this year's contenders here.

What's your favourite word in any language?

Lugubrious. I just like how it sounds. 

What is the strangest thing you've done to research a book?

Going to visit a witch doctor in Tanzania. I couldn't help laughing and giggling. I was pretending to have a problem and he was trying to solve it.

Name your favourite way to procrastinate.

Have a glass of wine.

Where is your favourite place to visit in Canada?

Vancouver.

Hardcover or e-book?

Hardcover.

Would you rather give up reading or writing?

Writing. Writing is painful.

Describe your book in five words.

Futuristic. Fiction. Toronto. Memory. War.

Robertson Davies said writers are cat people. Agree or disagree?

I'm not sure what a cat person is, unless he means someone who waits to pounce on an idea.

What is the last book you read?

I'm reading a biography of a 14th century sultan in Delhi. I'm reading it for research purposes.