David Plante loves art. The first volume of his diary, Becoming a Londoner, could be read as a world of artists that includes Francis Bacon, David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj and others. His diary is voluminous and is kept in the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. He is the author of over a dozen novels, from The Ghost of Henry James through The Francoeur Family to his most recent, ABC. He is Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, where he presided over creative writing. He now lives in London, and spends too much money on buying the art he loves.