Author Interview: An obvious component of the...
An obvious component of the book is the explicit sexuality. What did you hope to achieve through this explicitness?
I think many women have the sexual feelings and experiences that my protagonist Vangie has, but those things aren't always discussed openly. That's part of what the sentence "Here is what they never tell you about being a girl" is about. I didn't want things to stay polite in this story, so I pushed myself to let Vangie say things that were hard to say. I wanted her to be able to speak bluntly and specifically about the things that compel her. The result is sometimes raw. Sex isn't the only thing Vangie is explicit about, though-she's also explicit in the ways she describes her jobs: carrying chickens, waiting tables and picking pears. All of her jobs are very physical and I hope those descriptions are no less vivid or detailed.
Your book invites the reader into the bedroom (or backseat) of the main character, and it almost demands a kind of intimacy on the part of the reader. What kinds of reactions have you gotten?
That the book is daring. That the sex is enthusiastic, and that there is a joyousness in the frankness of it all. A couple people have read it all at one sitting. All kinds of things.
Did you feel that you had crossed over some kind of line in writing that explicitly?
Sure, I often felt I crossed the line. A few places in the book are still hard for me to look at. But once I started being that direct and specific, it was hard to be anything but that. Vangie's voice became the standard.
You commented earlier on Vangie's jobs, all of which you write about very knowledgeably. Have you worked as a waitress, pear picker or chicken carrier?
I did all those jobs as I was growing up. They all made a very strong impression on me, and I've never been able to forget them. It makes sense to me, because when you learn a job, you take in a lot of information that you need to know, and if the job involves any manual work, you take in information with your body, too. My body remembers picking pears, carrying chickens, waitressing. It also remembers the very visceral details of those workplaces. I like to write about work because I like to describe the actions and processes of it, and how the person moves through the work. There's a lot of beauty in it to me, even if it's a bad or taxing job. I've also worked as a church secretary and as a change girl in a casino, but I haven't written about those jobs yet.
Of Vangie's jobs, which was your personal favorite?
Picking pears was the hardest but the most beautiful because of the green fruit and trees. Carrying chickens was not as bad as you'd assume it to be, in spite of the chicken sh*t. Waitressing produced the greatest number of nightmares and feelings of dread, but I remember that job best of all and feel some strange sort of love for its details. I still have one of my old green "Guest Check" pads.
Do you believe it enriches a writer's work to have those kinds of jobs?
Many American writers have thought that for a long time, and I respect and embrace the tradition. Yet I say that from a position of luxury, because I don't have to do those jobs now to earn a living. I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't gone on to college and moved into the wider world. I don't know if I would be calling those jobs enriching then.
There are tremendously deep friendships in the book-and tremendous betrayals. Can you talk about those themes of friendship and fidelity?
I didn't think about themes as I was writing, but you're right, there are certainly deep betrayals between different characters. The question makes me think of a poem by Marina Tsvetaeva where she writes about how sometimes, when we are being utterly faithless to others, we are being true to ourselves. I believe that. At the same time, you don't want just to go around damaging people, or acting wholly out of self interest. That's no life, either. I'd say that Vangie has awareness of that distinction. And she knows herself, or is trying to know herself and the behavior of which she's capable.
Any plans for a second book?
Absolutely. I'm in the gathering stage right now, letting voices and images come and go. I can't say more than that. It's good to be at this place. I don't want to jinx it.