Peter Wild is the editor of Perverted By Language.
What is the first book you can remember reading?
I remember reading The Shining when I was off school as a kid and asking my mum what a prick was (the first line of the book says someone or other is an officious prick). I must've been eight or nine. It won't have been the first book I read (obviously) but it was the first book that had an impact.
If you had to choose one book to take to a desert island, what would it be?
The missus treated me to the new annotated Sherlock Holmes last Christmas and they're too unwieldy to lug on the bus each morning so I haven't quite got round to reading em yet. A few weeks on a desert island with those lovelies would be just the ticket, thank you very much!
Which book would you like to see filmed?
I've heard rumours that they're making a movie of Alan Moore's Watchmen and John Kennedy Toole's Confederacy of Dunces. I'd pay good money to see either of them (provided they were done well and not ballsed up).
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Don't lick ice cubes straight from the fridge.
Which book would you make compulsory reading?
Fup by Jim Dodge. It's just a wee scrap of a thing but damn if it aint one of the keepers.
What book are you reading at the moment?
I started reading Thomas Harris' Hannibal Rising earlier this afternoon (although I do also have Guy Delisle's Pyongyang on the go).
What is your favourite Serpent’s Tail title?
This changes a lot but right now it's a tie between King of the Roaches by Daniel Evan Reiss (which is a great lost gem I've just finished rereading) and King of the Road by Charlie Williams.
What makes you laugh?
My kids make me laugh a lot. Curb Your Enthusiasm makes me laugh. Charlie Brooker's column in the Guardian guide of a Saturday. My wife's impressions (of Michael Caine, Donkey from Shrek, Christopher Lloyd). Spongebob Squarepants. I laugh a lot. That's why I have terrible, terrible crow's feet.
Who would play you in a movie of your life?
My wife says Jack Lemmon. She says if there was a film of my life in which Jack Lemmon played me, she would definitely see it.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
There's a great song by Smog called Dress Sexy at My Funeral (in which the ever-excellent Bill Callaghan advises his wife to, you know, dress sexy at his funeral). I could see that getting a chuckle. But then you wouldn't really want people to be chuckling at your funeral, would you? There's a beautiful tune by American Music Club called The Confidential Agent. I'll have that please.