In her own words:
The first book I ever loved was Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.
I remember when I got my very own copy. My dad drove me over to the Waldenbooks at the mall, and held my little hand in his big hand while he plucked the book from the shelf and handed it to me. I still remember the smell of it—a cross between oatmeal and papier maché.
Oh, the thrill of a new book!
I read Charlotte’s Web so many times I could recite the first chapter by heart. I read it until the pages became soft and worn and the cover fell off.
It’s not a coincidence that when the time came to grow up and get a job, I decided to make a living out of making books. But I suppose that what I’m really doing as a literary agent is chasing that feeling I got way back in the third grade—that rush of emotion, that swell of love, that sweeping feeling of pure joy that comes from falling in love with a great book.