| ||||
     |  I’ve always been fascinated by American extremist movements—especially The Weather Underground. Imagining something like that occurring today—an organized group of middle- and upper-middle class students (most of them liberal arts kids or Ivy Leaguers) using violent means in an attempt to stir revolt, and end a misguided war—might be hard to do. But that’s exactly the problem. Continue reading Interview with David Goodwillie  New World Order is partly about how we as Americans thought the new century would unfold and how it actually has, since 9/11. So much of what we as a people are all about has to do with commerce and trade and economic might. It sort of defines our place in the world. But suddenly it all looks a lot more shaky than we had believed. Continue reading Interview with Derek Green  I think the key to staying in one place is to remember that the most important things in a novel are story, story, and story. This means that you are stuck with not explaining the action by referring to other places or other times, but seeing what the characters can do, right where they are, to advance a story. Continue reading Interview with Craig Nova  Then I fell in love with a woman who grew up on the Cape Flats, the sprawling mixed-race ghetto that is home to more than two-thirds of Cape Town’s population, and the stories she told me and the people she introduced me to changed my vision of Cape Town forever. Continue reading Interview with Roger Smith  Soldiers inhabit an environment where violent death in youth is nearer than it is for most of the rest of us. In that way they’re like cops, criminals, emergency room staff or the severely impoverished. Like those groups of people, they develop their own argot. It’s a logical outgrowth of their constant encounters with extremity. They need to invent words to get at what is rarely described by others living more commonly experienced lives. One of the singularities of the female soldier in my novel, a fighter pilot, is that because of recent changes in warfare, she is far more insulated from combat death than fighter pilots in previous wars. Yet she is at the nexus of one of the most serious moral dilemmas of today’s wars–civilian casualties from aerial attack. Continue reading Interview with Lorraine Adams  The issue of social class is certainly at play in the book. Americans like to think they live in a classless society but of course we don’t. Doug and Charlotte are both deeply imprinted by the class in which they grew up. They both have prejudices born of that experience. And some of their mutual animosity stems from that difference. Continue reading Interview with Adam Haslett  For most of the first draft, I didn’t know how they were connected. I was just writing forward with each of the three narratives, nervously feeling my way into blank space. A lot of the time during the first draft I was anxious because I thought I might have to throw the book away, and when it started to come together toward the end, I was surprised to discover that a number of the characters weren’t who I thought they were. It’s cool when you can manage to fool yourself. Continue reading JE and JC Tag-Team Dan Chaon 
Continue reading Agent Talk with Mollie Glick 
DH: In The Immortals, I found extended families, friendships and business relations laid out, more or less, on the same plane. It’s as if a carpet with a striking Continue reading Interview: Amit Chaudhuri's Redemptive Realism 
Today marks the release of James P. Othmer’s ADLAND, which we’ve mentioned a number of times on this blog (see trailer here). Jimbo is a brilliant and hilarious dude, and we’re excited to see this book do well, along with his novel HOLY WATER, also forthcoming from Doubleday. Since it’s always a pleasure to talk with JPO, I did a little Q & A last week to mark his new release: JE: It seems to me that the process of creating ads is very much a process of distillation–distillation of concept, of copy, of theme, of intent–utilizing an editorial skill set which might greatly benefit the navel gazers Continue reading Interview with James P. Othmer 
Continue reading Jonathan Evison interviews David Liss  It was hard to watch this novel come to a close. There are times as a reader when you see what’s coming your way and wait patiently, other times you wish it would end and can’t wait until it does. The end of Happyland isn’t really an ending, as far as endings go, but it does sum up something that I think Mr. Lennon has touched on throughout most of the book. People don’t change, places and things do. Sure, Ruth Spinks changes things by leaving Equinox, she does it in a way that seems more like she is resolved to do it, not because she has to. Dave, the down on his luck owner of the Goodbye Goose has Continue reading Happyland, J. Robert Lennon, Part IV  At this point it’s safe to say that Happy Masters has overtly and in the most subversive of fashions taken over Equinox. In a number of different ways J. Robert Lennon is turning certain players in this wonderful story against Happy, who be her own admission doesn’t really give two shits about anyone to bother paying attention to every detail of her day-to-day life. But she suspects something is going on, and perhaps is ignoring which is the price of creating something as diversely obsessive as your own town. Janet Ping has quickly allowed herself to be monopolized by Happy and her husband Jim. I don’t think Happy has time or the interest in having sex with Jim, even though Continue reading Happyland, J. Robert Lennon, Part III  JE: My friend Bill Kenower of Author Magazine does an excellent series of interviews with touring writers in conjunction with Third Place Books in Seattle, one of the great indie bookstores anywhere. Andre Dubus III rolled through our town recently, and Bill has given us the go ahead to share part one of his interview with our readership. To view the second half, go to Author Magazine and click on interviews. 
Continue reading Picking Lauren Cerand’s Brain | |||
Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa  | ||||
JE: I had three agents, including a couple of luminaries, before I found Mollie Glick, and what I learned is that having an agent doesn’t mean squat. You have to find the RIGHT agent. I was in fact un-agented at the time I started getting bites for “All About Lulu,” and I interviewed no less than a half-dozen reps, all of whom offered to rep me, before I decided on Mollie. I knew within five minutes Mollie was the right choice. She had an excellent idea of what I was trying to accomplish with my work, as well as an excellent understanding of my longterm goals. On top of
I recently reviewed Amit Chaudhuri’s novel on Three Guys. His publisher, Knopf, generously gave me the opportunity to ask the writer some questions. Reading over the interview, I was struck by hints of the same wayward lyricism that I found so affecting in The Immortals. His tossed-off comments that adolescence was a form of fiction and that realism could be redemptive amazed the hell out of me. But what could realism that’s not naturalistic be? What a bright man…see below:
JE: I should have made this post a month ago, upon the release of David Liss’s new book, “The Devil’s Company,”(about which the Washington Post raves), but alas, I’ve been up to my neck in dirty diapers and rewrites, so here we are. If you’re not familiar with Liss, the dude is a historical fiction franchise; the author of seven books, including the Edgar Award winning A Conspiracy of Paper. To mark the release of “The Devil’s Company,” (which marks the return of hero Benjamin Weaver), I thought I’d share an interview I did recently with DL, which originally ran in KNOCK.For starters, beyond being an
JE: Independent publicist Lauren Cerand, who we’ve mentioned before here at Three Guys for her ability to help generate and foster the ineffable buzz, is one of the coolest people I’ve met in the business. When LC is trumpeting a project, I listen. I follow her tweets. I like her style, her approach, and her enthusiasm for her work. And she’s got a great smile to boot, which is imperative in the world of publicity! This weekend, Lauren let me throw some questions at her for the benefit of the writers among us. Listen. Learn it. Live it. Lauren, can you give
Recent Comments