Bookbenchers: David Davis MP

Fleur Macdonald

Saturday, 19th November 2011

This week's Bookbencher is David Davis, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden. He tells us which literary character he'd most like to be and what books would double as good doorstoppers.

What book's on your bedside table at the moment? 

A Kindle, so about 150 of them.

Which book would you read to your children?

Given their age, the Tax Handbook, which since it is the longest and most complicated in the world would at least put them to sleep.

Which literary character would you most like to be?

Gulliver.

Which book do you think best sums up 'now'?

Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis.

What was the last novel you read?

Surface Details, Iain Banks


Which book would you most recommend?

The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit, by Melvin Konner

Given enough time, which book would you like to study deeply?

Stabilising an Unstable Economy, by Herman Minsky

Which books do you plan to read next?

Civilisation: the West and the Rest, by Niall Ferguson, and Black Hearts, by Jim Frederick

If the British Library was on fire and you could only save three books, which ones would you take?

Das Kapital, The Little Red Book and the Orange Book — in these days of Kindles and iPads they are all equally useful as doorstops.

Fleur Macdonald is editor of The Omnivore.

Blog Tags: Bookbenchers