Our July Cover-to-Cover interview is with Mauro Magellan. Originally from Brazil, Mauro emigrated to the U.S. when he was 3, grew up in Miami and returned to Brazil when he was 13. He came back to the states and has lived in the Monroe area with his wife, Tracy, for 27 years. Mauro's resume includes book author, illustrator, producer, professional musician and drummer for Homemade Sin and The Jimmys.
We recently had an entertaining and wide-ranging conversation with Mauro about his self-proclaimed "addiction to reading."
What books are you reading right now or what have you read recently?
I'm reading two or three books right now because I have to read all the time. Have you heard of "Sapiens" by Harari? I'm reading that one. I had to buy it. I thought it was going to be more scientific, but it's more cultural.
I've been reading Sara King. She is kind of an underground science-fiction writer. I like her stories and I like her characters. She's full of herself, but I do like her books. I've also been reading Jared Diamond. I just started "Guns, Germs, and Steel." I finished "Collapse." It's cool as hell. It's a book about the collapse of civilizations.
It's exciting to talk to someone who has an interest in science fiction.
I'm not a science-fiction guy. I don't like to watch movies that are science fiction because they just disappoint me. But, the books ... I started getting into it with Kurt Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan." That was my first one. Then I read "Welcome to the Monkey House," and it went on and on and on.
Do people know about your passion for books and give things to you to read?
My daughter. Right now I've got a stack from her. A lot of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez books she found for me. She found the short story (collection) I just bought. She buys me a bunch of books. She just bought me "Welcome to Night Vale."
I'm always looking for books. I go through the Amazon's Editor's Picks. NPR has good interviews.
Is there a particular book that really has inspired you?
Yes. There's a bunch. When I was young, the first book I really loved was Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince." I read it in Portuguese and then I read it in English and then I read it in German, which was not as good as the English or the Portuguese. I was 3 years old when my mom played the record. When I read it for the first time in Portuguese, I was older, probably 13, because I was just beginning to learn to read Portuguese. That was a big turning point where I thought, "I'm going to like reading." Before that, reading was just not what I wanted to do.
Later in life, I was in the cool thing with music, but I loved nerd stuff, like "The Hobbit." I adored it. That was before it was even a thing. That one really turned me especially around for reading fantasy.
Do you ever go back and re-read books that you did when you were younger?
Yes. "The Sirens of Titan" - I came back to that one three or four times. I did it with "The Lord of the Rings." I read it years ago. Right before it exploded, I turned my daughter, Rachel, on to it. Now, that woman reads. We used to bring her to the library with a wagon. She would fill it up, and then read everything, and then read it again.
If you could be a character in a book, who would you want to be?
A character in a book? James Bond. I'd like to be that character. He's really cool. And Jamie from the Outlander series. Oh, he can do everything. He's handsome. He's tall. I read all the Outlander books. I wouldn't mind being Jamie.
Can you tell us about a book that you were excited about and then wound up disappointed in?
"The Old Man and the Sea." I'm sure he's a genius. I'm just not seeing it. I'm sure one day I might see it. I even played at Sloppy Joe's where he used to hang out. The fake Sloppy Joe's, I later found out. The real Sloppy Joe's was this little hole in the wall. This one was a little bigger. The new Sloppy Joe's is even better. The tourists love it.
If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only take one book with you, what would it be?
Could it be a series? No, it would have to be one book? Would it be nonfiction or fiction, though? I guess in this case, it would have to be fiction just to put you in another world. That's why I read fiction, to go to another world when you're waiting on a plane or your plane's delayed by 24 hours. What book would it be? I don't know. "Welcome to Night Vale" is a pretty good idea because I don't understand this book.
- Cover to Cover is provided by the Monroe Public Library and is published the fourth Wednesday of the month.
We recently had an entertaining and wide-ranging conversation with Mauro about his self-proclaimed "addiction to reading."
What books are you reading right now or what have you read recently?
I'm reading two or three books right now because I have to read all the time. Have you heard of "Sapiens" by Harari? I'm reading that one. I had to buy it. I thought it was going to be more scientific, but it's more cultural.
I've been reading Sara King. She is kind of an underground science-fiction writer. I like her stories and I like her characters. She's full of herself, but I do like her books. I've also been reading Jared Diamond. I just started "Guns, Germs, and Steel." I finished "Collapse." It's cool as hell. It's a book about the collapse of civilizations.
It's exciting to talk to someone who has an interest in science fiction.
I'm not a science-fiction guy. I don't like to watch movies that are science fiction because they just disappoint me. But, the books ... I started getting into it with Kurt Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan." That was my first one. Then I read "Welcome to the Monkey House," and it went on and on and on.
Do people know about your passion for books and give things to you to read?
My daughter. Right now I've got a stack from her. A lot of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez books she found for me. She found the short story (collection) I just bought. She buys me a bunch of books. She just bought me "Welcome to Night Vale."
I'm always looking for books. I go through the Amazon's Editor's Picks. NPR has good interviews.
Is there a particular book that really has inspired you?
Yes. There's a bunch. When I was young, the first book I really loved was Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince." I read it in Portuguese and then I read it in English and then I read it in German, which was not as good as the English or the Portuguese. I was 3 years old when my mom played the record. When I read it for the first time in Portuguese, I was older, probably 13, because I was just beginning to learn to read Portuguese. That was a big turning point where I thought, "I'm going to like reading." Before that, reading was just not what I wanted to do.
Later in life, I was in the cool thing with music, but I loved nerd stuff, like "The Hobbit." I adored it. That was before it was even a thing. That one really turned me especially around for reading fantasy.
Do you ever go back and re-read books that you did when you were younger?
Yes. "The Sirens of Titan" - I came back to that one three or four times. I did it with "The Lord of the Rings." I read it years ago. Right before it exploded, I turned my daughter, Rachel, on to it. Now, that woman reads. We used to bring her to the library with a wagon. She would fill it up, and then read everything, and then read it again.
If you could be a character in a book, who would you want to be?
A character in a book? James Bond. I'd like to be that character. He's really cool. And Jamie from the Outlander series. Oh, he can do everything. He's handsome. He's tall. I read all the Outlander books. I wouldn't mind being Jamie.
Can you tell us about a book that you were excited about and then wound up disappointed in?
"The Old Man and the Sea." I'm sure he's a genius. I'm just not seeing it. I'm sure one day I might see it. I even played at Sloppy Joe's where he used to hang out. The fake Sloppy Joe's, I later found out. The real Sloppy Joe's was this little hole in the wall. This one was a little bigger. The new Sloppy Joe's is even better. The tourists love it.
If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only take one book with you, what would it be?
Could it be a series? No, it would have to be one book? Would it be nonfiction or fiction, though? I guess in this case, it would have to be fiction just to put you in another world. That's why I read fiction, to go to another world when you're waiting on a plane or your plane's delayed by 24 hours. What book would it be? I don't know. "Welcome to Night Vale" is a pretty good idea because I don't understand this book.
- Cover to Cover is provided by the Monroe Public Library and is published the fourth Wednesday of the month.