Richard B. Wright takes the Proust questionnaire

Richard B. Wright is an accomplished Canadian fiction writer. He's the author of 15 novels, but he's best known for his beloved book Clara Callan, which won both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. His most recent novel is Nightfall. Richard B. Wright died on February 7, 2017.

Below, Richard B. Wright answers The Next Chapter's version of the Proust questionnaire.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I'm not very happy with my temperament — I tend to get impatient and angry over things that aren't very important. I've tried most of my life to overcome that, and I make some headway but then I take a step backward. It's largely an inherited temperament and I have to struggle with that.

What do you value most in your friends?

I value their ability to listen and to share memories with me. I have been fortunate to have a number of very good friends who have gone with me on trips. A sense of companionship, and a sense of sharing adventures with these people has been one of the things that has kept me going in life.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Being unable to read.

Where would you like to live?

If I had my choice, I would like to go to France and Italy. Not permanently, but as a place to go back to for a period of time. I'm very much a Europhile, and I would like to spend some time each year in both Italy and southern France.

What's your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness is almost impossible for most people, I think it's just something people dream about. If it was perfect, you'd soon get tired of it. I suppose most people would say a lot of money and a warm place to go in the wintertime. That would certainly help — I don't know if it would be perfect, but it would certainly help!

What's your greatest achievement?

I don't know. Does anybody stand around and say "This is my greatest achievement"? I'm sorry, but I just think that's a very silly question. Nobody's going to say "Oh, this is my greatest achievement." I suppose writing all these books — I've written 15 books. But it's not a big deal compared to what some people have done. Achievements are achievements. Greatest achievements, I don't count them.

Richard B. Wright's comments have been edited and condensed.