Long Island Reads

Long Island Reads is an Island-wide reading initiative, jointly sponsored by the Nassau Library System and Suffolk Cooperative Library System.

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We are so excited and proud to announce our 2026 pick: "The Doorman" by Chris Pavone! https://t.co/9lXOQ4VlyB

Reserve a copy at your library today - available as a hardcover book, large print book, ebook, and downloadable audio formats.

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If you missed this year's @longislandreads event, visit our webpage to watch the recording.
https://t.co/OIMCOBWToC

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Check out this great article in the Fire Island News between last year's author Jane L. Rosen and this year's author Chris Pavone.
https://t.co/lfOVjxDogk

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CP: I don’t like to tie up my books with a bow. I like the readers to add their own interpretations.

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CP: all my books have the same thing in common - the last sentence is very long and is meant to encapsulate the whole book.

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Q: did you get any complaints when you called Riverhead an armpit?

A: I didn’t. My characters say and do a lot of bad things - none of those characters is me.

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Q: do you write when you’re in Orient?

A: I do. I write on my porch that faces a Main Street in the village. People stop and say hi, etc. and they always apologize for bothering me. I tell them that if I didn’t want to be bothered, I wouldn’t sit on my porch.

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Q: did you write the ending 1st or do you write several endings?

A: I usually know how the book is going to end, but sometimes when I get to the end, I decide it needs to be changed.

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CP: if you’re looking for an agent bc you’re a writer, know that agents tend to stop reading on page 1-2 bc going farther means you’re not spending that time w your kids. Make sure your page 1 is fabulous!

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Q: have you been offered to have this book turned into a movie and did you accept?

A: yes & yes. Several of my books have, but right now none of them have actually made it to the big or small screen.

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Q: is the Bohemia based on The Dakota?

A: yes

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Q: how did you come up w the name The Bohemia?

A: I took it from when the arts were more important & bohemians were all around NY.

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CP: I like to write suspense. I took inspiration from To Kill a Mockingbird where the beginning mentions Gem broke her arm, but you don’t know how that happened until the end. You’re reading the book trying to find out how it happened. I want that for my books.

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Q: Why did you choose to name the chapters after the apartments instead of the people?

A: Because if you’re the guy who lives in the penthouse, you’re always that guy, just like if you’re the doorman, you’re always the doorman.

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CP: I gave a copy of the book to all of the employees who work in my building. One asked how CP knew what he was thinking. Another from the building next door dropped off a miss delivered package to his building w a note saying he loved the book.

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Q: the title suggests that Chicky is the main character. Is he?

A: No, Emily is the main character. But he knew he wanted to title it The Doorman bc when you hear doorman, you automatically know that this person knows a lot of info about the residents of the building.

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CP: I didn’t set out to write a copy, but to use the same themes and give a look into the way rich people live in NY.

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Q: several reviewers have compared your novel to Bonfire of the Vanities. Was that purposeful.

A: Yes, both books touch on the same themes - sex, adultery, racism… I set out purposefully to write an updated Bonfire book.

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CP: there was a doorman at my building that everyone loved and as he was waiting on all of us, he was also dying. He was such a great guy and he had been a doorman from the age of 20 until age 57 when he died being buried in his full doorman uniform.

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CP: I always wanted to write a NY book & when I moved into my full staff building it reminded me of the shows I grew up with Upstairs Downstairs & All in the Family. That gave me to idea to write The Doorman.

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Q: do you write longhand, go straight to typing? What’s your process?

A: I started writing when my kids were young & at home, so I would take my computer out in the world and find a spot. Now it’s habit and I still do it.