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Author Revealed

Richard C. Morais
Nishad Joshi/ Time Out Mumbai

Richard C. Morais

Richard C. Morais was a senior editor at Forbes and the magazine’s longest serving foreign correspondent. An American raised in Switzerland, Morais has lived most of his life overseas, returning to the United States in 2003. His debut novel, The... Read full bio

Author Revealed:
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Friends and family on long table in a summer garden, enjoying delicious home-cooked food, lots of vino, and much animated talk.
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Richard C. Morais Revealed
About Richard C. Morais
  • What is your birthdate?:
    10/25
  • Previous occupations:
    Journalist
  • Favorite job:
    Writing
  • High school and/or college:
    American International School of Zurich (Switzerland) and Sarah Lawrence College
  • Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:
    Ray LaMontagne
  • Favorite movie:
    Truly, Madly, Deeply
  • Favorite television show:
    The Wire
Revealing Questions
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. Simply unable to do things conventionally.
Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Do the absolute best you can. And then enjoy a rather large glass of wine.
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Friends and family on long table in a summer garden, enjoying delicious home-cooked food, lots of vino, and much animated talk.
Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Flying
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Tuscany, followed by fishing in Iceland
Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Carl Gustav Jung
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. My daughter
Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. Fantastico!
Q. What do you regret most?
A. Inadvertently slighting friends.
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. Acting.
Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Survival.
Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Impatience.
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Sense of humor
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. Alfred - my late and loving dog
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. Passion and excitement
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Don Quixote
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Any character from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridien
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Carl Gustav Jung - "One lump or two?"
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. Cars who stop on the cross walk so you have trouble crossing the street
Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Looking for my next meal
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. What I am doing - writing
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Decency, imagination, sense of humor
Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Clams
Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. I can never remember song titles
On Books and Writing
Q. Who are your favorite authors?
A. Giovanni Boccaccio
Gerald Durrell

Thomas Mann

Cormac McCarthy

Carl Gustav Jung
Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. The Decameron
My Family And Other Animals

Buddenbrooks

Blood Meridian

Jung's Collected Works
Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
A. My Family And Other Animals - it saved me when I was a child, and I have now read it seven times
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Listen. Hard. To your inner self.
Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
A. I can't believe this is fiction. I thought it was a memoir.
Q. How did you come to write Hundred-Foot Journey?
A. I wanted my friend, the late film producer Ismail Merchant, to make a film that would marry his love of film making with his love of cooking. When I couldn't find a novel that fit the bill, I sat down and wrote one.