“The devouring monster that my protagonist can seem to be is a reflection on our overwhelming consumption, which will in fact devour our world.”
“As I’ve put this playlist together, and the book for that matter, there’s an obvious trajectory from isolation to connection. Isn’t that what it’s all about?”
“This playlist traces that arc: from heartland rock’s narratives of survival to the hyper-produced imperatives of pop, where freedom is marketed as a reward for submission.”
“Music runs throughout The Soldier’s House as this plot unfolds, played on a little cassette recorder, the car radio, on an iPod (remember those?), or simply in the heads of the characters, especially that of little Tariq, who is only five years old when the novel opens and becomes quickly besotted with American pop music.”
“Music is an amazing tone-setter for a writing day.”
“Don’t Stop is a novel about a woman with an utterly divided life, who tells herself that part of it is real and important (the part with her kind husband and good job) and the other, which encompasses an increasingly dark sexual affair, is make-believe.”
“…I’m a novelist who wants to be a musician. This is obvious from all my books but this one in particular.”
“‘You’re about to get hit by a hurricane.’ That’s the best advice I got about what it’s like when a baby makes landfall in your life. The First 649 Days begins there. It ends five years later, with the 649 days I spent with my son during the pandemic. In between, it tries to capture that everyday struggle we all confront: How do we become what life makes of us? “
“I do most of my writing in coffee shops, so my playlists are often selected by baristas.”
“The music herein may take you a place you may not want to go: to a graveside perhaps, or a deathbed, or simply to a wasted day. It may remind you what the Navajo believe: that if a sunrise finds you still asleep, God will simply assume you are dead.”