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April 14, 2021
Anna North's Playlist for Her Novel "Outlawed"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Anna North's novel Outlawed is a brilliant alternative history of the American West, an unforgettable and compelling read.
Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:
"North’s knockout latest chronicles the travails of a midwife’s daughter who joins a group of female and nonbinary outlaws near the end of the 19th century . . . The characters’ struggles for gender nonconformity and LGBTQ rights are tenderly and beautifully conveyed. This feminist western parable is impossible to put down."
In her words, here is Anna North's Book Notes music playlist for her novel Outlawed:
I don’t listen to music while I’m physically writing, but I listen to a lot of music while I’m thinking through a book — it helps me figure out mood, setting, even character. Below are some of the songs I had on repeat as I was writing Outlawed, along with a few I added later on that I think match up well with the book. I tried to follow the arc of the novel a little bit with this playlist, bu it’s not perfect — mostly I just think of this as a fun accompaniment to the book and maybe a little window into what was going on in my head as I read it.
"Daddy Lessons," Beyoncé: I put on this song whenever I needed to psych myself up for the more action-packed sequences in Outlawed. A dark but very fun and danceable song that also reminds me a lot of True Grit.
"Thomas County Law," Iron & Wine: This was my other big writing inspiration song, after "Daddy Lessons." Helped get me in the mood for the more down-tempo sections in the book, or the ones involving Sheriff Branch. Love the opening line.
"John Saw That Number," Neko Case: I struggled with which Neko Case to put on here but I ultimately went with this one -- I like to imagine the Mother Superior at the convent putting this on when nobody’s around.
"Old Town Road," Lil Nax X: Had to include this, obviously. Also Lil Nas X published a very cool kids’ book, C Is For Country, on the same day as Outlawed. My toddler is very into it.
"Money," Cardi B: This is one of several songs on this playlist that I pulled from the Hustlers soundtrack, which is amazing. I think I was already done with the book when Hustlers came out, but it’s in the vein of a lot of heist movies I watched for inspiration — Ocean’s 8 in particular. Also I had to include some Cardi B here and this one seemed the most apt.
"Whites of Their Eyes," Mattiel: My husband actually introduced me to this song. Kind of a slightly dreamy take on the shoot-em-up storyline. I like it for a little change of pace here.
"Money Good," Megan Thee Stallion: I love this song, maybe the catchiest on an album of extremely catchy songs. I kind of struggled with putting it so close to "Money" on this playlist, due to similar titles and moods, but ultimately I think it belongs here in the narrative arc -- it belongs in that spot in the novel before things get really scary.
"Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby;" Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch: This is on the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, also a big influence on Outlawed. These three artists are all favorites of mine. Pretty sure this plays during the mass-baptism scene in O Brother, which makes me think of the tent revival in Outlawed.
"Criminal," by Fiona Apple: Another one from Hustlers, where it plays a pivotal role. I kind of had to put this on here. The lyrics kind of don’t fit with Outlawed, but the vibe does.
"Standing In the Way of Control," Gossip: A longtime favorite. I like to think of this song as the climax of the playlist and the novel -- maybe this plays as the gang is walking up to the bank for the big heist.
"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," Nancy Sinatra: Like a lot of people, I was introduced to this song by Kill Bill. That movie is complicated to think about now, especially because of what Uma Thurman has said about the filming, but I still really like this song.
"Poison Tree," Beth Orton: I love this album so much. I could have included a lot of songs here but went with this one for a sort of post-showdown bonus.
"Papa Was a Rodeo," The Magnetic Fields: Feels right to close out with this. Along with "Daddy Lessons" and "Thomas County Law," this is one of the songs I had on repeat for inspiration. Such a sweet, sad (but ultimately happy I think?) love song, and also a little capsule Western. I still listen to it a lot.
Anna North is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the author of two previous novels, America Pacifica and The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, which received a Lambda Literary Award in 2016. She has been a writer and editor at Jezebel, BuzzFeed, Salon, and the New York Times, and she is now a senior reporter at Vox. She grew up in Los Angeles and lives in Brooklyn.
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