I don’t even crack open a book until I know some things about the author.

I think it’s important to know the author’s background when you’re reading literary fiction and/or classics.

I also prefer to read a well rounded assortment of writing, meaning that the author’s cultural background is high priority knowledge for me.

The western canon and the big publishers tend to neglect non-Anglo writing, so if you are going into stores just taking books off the shelf without looking then you’re missing out on the world, really.