Somewhere Christa is squealing with delight at the fact that Charles Baxter has answered these six questions. She’s a fan. You might know Baxter from novels like Saul and Patsy, Feast of Love, or his latest, The Soul Thief. Many might recognize him as the man who wrote Burning Down the House, a book of essays on fiction. If I had a dollar for every time Baxter has been cited (specifically the against epiphanies essay) in one of my writing classes, I could probably buy you all a copy of the book. Baxter, who was born in Minneapolis, graduated from Macalaster, and now teaches at the University of Minnesota will be reading from The Soul Thief at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 26 at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. South, Minneapolis.

What book(s) are you currently reading?
Stacey D’Erasmo’s The Sky Below

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? Who?
I don’t get crushes anymore, but I do sometimes get exasperated with certain fictional characters and would like to tell them not to do what they’re about to do. They never listen to me. Why should they?

If your favorite author came to Minnesota, who would it be and what bar would you take him/her to?
Louise Gl?ck is coming here in March–she’s one of my favorite poets–and I’m taking her to Fugaise for dinner.

What was your first favorite book?
The Return of the Native

Let’s say Fahrenheit 451 comes to life, which book would you become in order to save it from annihilation?
The collected works of William Shakespeare

What is one book you haven’t read but want to read before you die?
I suppose I should get around to reading Middlemarch some day.