For the last fifteen years, if a novel was published, John Freeman has been there to greet it. As a critic for more than two hundred newspapers worldwide, he has reviewed thousands of books and interviewed scores of writers, and in How to Read a Novelist, he shares with us what he has learned.

From such international stars as Doris Lessing, Haruki Murakami, Salman Rushdie and Mo Yan; to British talents including Ian McEwan, Jim Crace, A. S. Byatt and Alan Hollinghurst; American masters such as Don DeLillo, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison and Philip Roth; to the new guard of Jennifer Egan, Junot Díaz, Dave Eggers and Jonathan Franzen – Freeman has talked to everyone.

How to Read a Novelist is essential reading for every aspiring writer and engaged reader; the perfect companion for anyone who''s ever curled up with a novel and wanted to know a bit more about the person who made that moment possible.