Wayne Koestenbaum’s new novel, *My Lover, the Rabbi,* is out now from FSG, so we asked him a few questions about writing, reading, and whatever else was on his mind. As ever, Koestenbaum did not disappoint. * Which non-literary piece of culture—film, TV show, painting, song—could you not imagine your life without From *Gilligan’s Island, *the TV show, I learned how to be bumbling and small while receiving the protection of an older, bigger man, who nonetheless was exasperated with me and only barely countenanced my presence. I learned the importance of bucket hats, their shapelessness, their lack of command. I learned that professors wore cardigans. I learned that professors were unkempt but desirable. I learned about the existence of Mary Ann, a category. I’m a Mary Ann, but I also have always wished to be surrounded by Mary Anns. I learned about Mary Ann’s smallness and beauty. I learned about Mary Ann’s adjacency to the starlet Tina Louise.…