Though Kaitlyn Greenidge’s acclaimed first novel, “We Love You, Charlie Freeman,’’ has a chimpanzee at the center of the plot, the writer says she no interest in animals. “I’m more interested in how human beings project ideas onto animals.’’ Brooklyn-based Greenidge, who grew up in Somerville and Arlington, returns home for a reading at 7 p.m. Feb. 27, at Porter Square Books.
BOOKS: What are you reading currently?
GREENIDGE: I’m reading two nonfiction books: “This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed’’ by Charles E. Cobb Jr. about the use of guns in the civil rights movement; I’m also reading Mireille Miller-Young’s “A Taste for Brown Sugar’’ about black women in pornography. I’m always interested in places or people who people insist have no possible history or are below study.
BOOKS: Do you read a lot of history?
GREENIDGE: I tend to read a mix of nonfiction and fiction. I love history books. I especially like history books that force me to rethink the narrative we have with the past. I don’t know how we move forward without studying people who have lived through similar times.
BOOKS: Have you always been a history reader?
GREENIDGE: I used to go to the Boston Public Library’s main branch, which was within walking distance of my high school, every day and go through nonfiction stacks. I’d go to the section on history of witches, then the section on history of human sexuality. I read all these great nonfiction books.
BOOKS: What history books do you recommend the most?
GREENIDGE: Probably Stephen Jay Gould’s [book on measuring intelligence] “The Mismeasure of Man’’ because it was the intellectual bedrock of my novel. Another is Anne McClintock’s “Imperial Leather,’’ which is about how British colonialism worked its way into the sexual imagination. And for our most recent moment Eric Foner’s “Reconstruction’’ is important to read because it’s about how states in the past completely took away citizen’s rights.
BOOKS: Has the current political climate influenced your reading?
GREENIDGE: I’m trying to not let it influence what I read. It’s hard to not follow the news, but I think a huge part of staying sane is keeping a corner of your imagination apart from the current news. I’m totally for the idea of measured means of escape.
BOOKS: What’s the last novel you read?
GREENIDGE: I re-read Sara Waters’s “Tipping the Velvet.’’ It’s historical fiction about a queer relationship in the 19th century. It’s a pleasant book. Nobody dies. The writing is really energetic.
BOOKS: Who are some of the novelists you have read the most?
GREENIDGE: Probably Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison, and Colette. All of them write to all five senses. I can’t stand novels that are heady, novels about people just walking around thinking.
BOOKS: What was your last best read?
GREENIDGE: That would probably be what I’m reading now, the forthcoming “Brass’’ by Xhenet Ailu. It’s written from the perspective of a young girl, which I think is difficult to do, and it’s a really beautiful.
BOOKS: What is one of the best books you’ve been given as a gift?
GREENIDGE: When I was in high school a teacher in a summer writing camp gave me “The Saskiad’’ by Brian Hall. That’s a really great book about a young girl growing up in a commune in upstate New York. It’s just a really inventive novel.
BOOKS: Are there any books on your shelves that would surprise someone?
GREENIDGE: I’m pretty wide open in my weird taste, so I don’t think anything would surprise anyone. I liked reading Chris McLaughlin’s “Sex Toys of the Gods’’ and “Glamourpuss.’’ They are great, raunchy, gay male romance novels. In college I took a year off and moved to Juneau, Alaska, with a friend for a year, which wasn’t the smartest. For much of the winter there was nothing to do, but there was a great library, and they had those books. I read those to feel like I was still part of pop culture.
AMY SUTHERLAND
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