xxx Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com | Sunday, August 17, 2014 | G7

Courtney Maum’s firstnovel, “I Am Having SoMuch Fun Here WithoutYou,” is a publicist’s dream.

Its snappy title prom-ises ironic humor, and itleaves one wondering ifthe “I” will end up with the“you.” The terrific covercalls to mind the romanceof a European holiday.The blurbs, from criticallylauded writers, speak tothe novel’s wit and insight.And the elevator pitch isready-made: 30-somethingBritish artist has affairin Paris with Americanwoman, but decides toreturn to French wife. Itoffers a moral quandary, alove triangle and a Franco-British-American conflict.Here we have the literarybeach read — a book thatpleases people who read

two books a month andpeople who read two booksa year.

The situation is time-worn and irresistible. Thesettings — the streets,art galleries and homesof mostly rich Parisiansand Londoners, plusthe French and Englishcountryside — are idyllicescapes, lushly drawn.Maum convincingly inhab-its the thoughts of her pro-tagonist, Richard Haddon,as he stumbles through hiscrisis, keenly portrayingthe emotional and physicalfrustrations that lead himto stray.

About his mistress,Richard thinks, “My lifehad been illuminated byLisa, made more vivid byher presence. I couldn’timagine letting go — reallyletting go of her — withoutlosing a rekindled sense

of self.” About his wifeand his life with theiryoung daughter: “I lovedAnne-Laure. And I neededher. Everything, from the

herd of midseason coatscrowded in the mudroomto the glitter-pencil pen-guin drawings curling upbeneath the magnets onbeneath the magnets on our refrigerator door, everyobject in our householdwas part of our ongoingtale.”

The first third of thenovel is anchored by a coredilemma, nuanced char-acterization and a smartsend-up of the internation-al art scene. But then thefocus abruptly switches toa contrived plot involvingone of Richard’s paintings.As Maum delves into thisnarrative involving thesale of a favorite work toa mysterious buyer, whohappens to have the samename as the man Lisa hastaken up with, I couldn’thelp but feel as if a screen-writer of broad comedieshad hijacked 70 pages of

the book.The buyer, known only

as “Dave,” turns out to beone half of an over-the-topNew Age couple whoseantics make much of themiddle third of the novelseem farcical.

“We’re completers of thecircle,” Dave says of himselfand his partner, Dan. “Likeour snake god, we, too, tryto be the belt around theworld that keeps it frombursting apart.” He sendsoff Richard with a talis-man, Ngendo, describedas “some kind of cross be-tween an African fertilitysculpture, license-plate art,and a totem pole.” Sure,it’s funny, but it’s com-pletely out of context. Evenfloppy-haired Richard, inhis bumbling attempt towin back his wife, startsto seem like Hugh Grant.Lovelorn, he begins a new

installation, WarWash,an artistic comment onthe coming war with Iraqthat invites the public toparticipate “in an absurddomestic act: the washingof things in oil.”

Down the stretch,Maum returns to her art,too. She is abundantlygifted — funny, open-heart-ed, adept at bringing globalissues into the personalsphere. Though her novelis an uneven marriage ofthe literary and the popu-lar, she is certainly capableof making the relationshipwork and eventually creat-ing that rare thing: a bookfor everyone.

Porter Shreve, whose fourthnovel, “The End of the Book,”was published in Febru-ary, wrote this review fortheWashington Post BookWorld.

Debut novel is a literary beach read that everyone should enjoyDebut novel is a literary beach read that everyone should enjoy REVIEW

By Porter Shreve

‘I Am Having So‘I Am Having So Much Fun Here

Without You’By Courtney Maum.

Touchstone, 336 pp.,$25.99.

Last year, Inprint drew its larg-est single audience, selling more than2,400 tickets for Khaled Hosseini, theAfghan-born novelist and physician whowrote “The Kite Runner,” “A ThousandSplendid Suns” and, most recently, “Andthe Mountains Echoed.” Hosseini’s ticketsales trumped Salman Rushdie’s, twicean Inprint guest, who sold 2,200 ticketswhen he appeared in 2010.

And here’s the thing about those tick-ets: General admission to a reading costs$5. That price hasn’t changed since 1980.

“The price is so low, you get a broadspectrum of people,” says Marilyn Jones,Inprint’s associate director.

“We emphasize to authors on tour andto our audience that there’s lots of moneyleft to buy books,” Levy says.

Season ticket holders really helpsupport the series, Levy adds. The $175season ticket fee includes reserved seats,two guest passes, free parking for half thereadings and a signed copy of Mitchell’slatest novel, “The Bone Clocks.”

This year, all the authors will appearat the Wortham Theater Center’s CullenAuditorium, which seats 1,100 — a largevenue for the series.

“We’re hoping more students can at-tend,” Jones says. “Students tend to makelast minute decisions.”

Levy, nodding, deadpanned: “We caterto the impulsive.”

Here’s a look at the new season:DAVID MITCHELL, Sept. 21: Thosewho haven’t read “Cloud Atlas,” Mitch-ell’s 2004 novel, may have seen the 2012film starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry.Mitchell often writes about the future,isn’t afraid to experiment with form andhas the temerity to bend genres. The au-thor of “The Thousand Autumns of Jacobde Zoet,” “Black Swan Green,” “Number-9Dream” and “Ghostwritten” will readfrom his upcoming novel, “The BoneClocks,” to be published Sept. 2. The newbook explores the surreal world of HollySykes, a teen who has captured the atten-tion of a dangerous group of mystics.

DEBORAH EISENBERG ANDANTONYA NELSON, Oct. 13: All hailthe short story. This pairing of Eisenberg,a short story master (and wife of Wal-lace Shawn), and Nelson, a University ofHouston professor who has publishedboth novels and short story collections,will be an evening of “writers’ writers,”Levy says. Eisenberg, who won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for “The Col-lected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg,” is“almost the opposite of David Mitchell,”Levy says. “You feel like a whole novel iscompressed in 30 pages.” The same goesfor Nelson, whose short story collec-tion, “Funny Once,” was released in thespring. Both of these authors operate likefictional spies, observing the smallestdetails and human foibles for maximumcomic — and tragic — effect.

MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM, Nov. 10:“The Hours,” Cunningham’s 2000 novelthat combines the final days of VirginiaWoolf with stories of fictional characterssearching for love and acceptance, won aPulitzer, the PEN/Faulkner Award, andbecame a critically acclaimed film star-ring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore andNicole Kidman. “The Snow Queen,” Cun-ningham’s sixth novel, follows two grownbrothers in their search for transcen-dence in present-day New York. “They’relooking for the meaning of life — or justtrying to grow up,” Jones says. “The bookis unhurried in a way that made me wantto savor it. This is Cunningham takingstock of the world.”

KAREN RUSSELL, Jan. 26: Russellgot rave reviews for “Swamplandia!”The 2011 novel about an Evergladestheme park was a finalist for the 2012Pulitzer Prize — the year no Pulitzer wasawarded for fiction. Russell’s 2013 shortstory collection, “Vampires in the LemonGrove,” has been praised as magical andfar-reaching, gathering everything fromstolen rabbits to werewolves to humansilkworms. The 33-year-old writer also

surprised readers this spring with “SleepDonation,” an e-book novella set in thefuture that imagines an insomnia epi-demic and the perfect donors for uncor-rupted sleep: babies.

MARY SZYBIST AND KEVINYOUNG, Feb. 23: It’s poetry night.Szybist won the National Book Awardfor her poetry collection, “Incarnadine,”which massages the myth of the biblicalMary. The judges’ citation for the awardnoted: “This is a religious book for non-believers, or a book of necessary doubtsfor the faithful.” Young won the 2012American Book Award for “Ardency: AChronicle of the Amistad Rebels.” Hismost recent collection, “Book of Hours,”chronicles his personal journey throughthe loss of his father and the birth of hisson: “her face/ full of fire, then groaningyour face/ out like a flower, blood-bloom,crocused into air.”

KAZUO ISHIGURO, March 23:Ishiguro’s most famous novel, 1989’s“Remains of the Day,” won the covetedMan Booker Prize and was made intoan unforgettable film with Anthony

Hopkins and Emma Thompson thatwon four Oscars. Born in Japan in 1954,Ishiguro moved with his family in 1960to England, where he still lives. His mostrecent works include “When We WereOrphans” (2000) and “Never Let MeGo” (2005), which follows a love trianglethat begins at a home for children whoare raised — cloned — to be organdonors. Readers have waited a decade forIshiguro’s upcoming novel, “The BuriedGiant,” about which very little is known.His British publisher, Faber and Faber,describes it as a story of “lost memories,love, revenge and war.”

CRISTINA HENRÍQUEZ ANDMARLON JAMES, April 20: Hen-ríquez has gotten stellar reviews for herrecent novel, “The Book of UnknownAmericans,” about a family who emi-grates to America from Mexico and meetsseveral other families who made similarjourneys from Latin America. “Thisbook brings up the question that manyimmigrants still struggle with: Was itworth it?” notes Krupa Parikh, Inprint’sdirector of marketing and outreach. TheJamaican-born James, whose “The Bookof Night Women” won the Dayton Liter-ary Peace Prize, will read from his highlyanticipated “A Brief History of SevenKillings,” about the 1976 attempted as-sassination of Bob Marley — though thereggae artist is never named.

GEOFF DYER, May 11: This Englishwriter won the National Book CriticsCircle Award for Criticism for his essaycollection “Otherwise Known as theHuman Condition,” but he has writtenfour novels and several other works lesseasy to categorize. In Houston, Dyer willdiscuss his latest book, “Another GreatDay at Sea: Life Aboard the USS GeorgeW. Bush,” a narrative of his residencyaboard an aircraft carrier.

Authors from page G1

Authors give candid onstage interviews

maggie.galehouse@chron.com

Karen RussellMichael Cunningham

Marlon James

Kevin Young

Geoff Dyer

Kazuo Ishiguro

Antonya Nelson

Cristina Henríquez

Mary Szybist

BOOKS

Matt Stuart

Michael Lionstar

Jodi Kabana

Phil Weedon

Michael Lionstar

Michael Lionstar

Richard PhibbsDana Kroos

Jeffrey Skemp

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they have one, main objective: "To get the best possible writers and to get a mix of genre, style ethnicbackgrounds."

But sometimeg mostly accidentally as the season begins to form, some themes become apparent.

This year after getting a look at ihe stellar seiection of authors, I noticed that th e 2074-201,5 season appears positively cinematic,thanks mostly to three Literary stars: ijauri h{i'Lilieii, ivjirllar:l dir.uuii-,gir;-rnr and i(azut:, ishigiiro.

\A4-rile it's not rurusual for a lineup to include one or maybe two authors who have a novelor short story adapted as movies, these three have a combined eight films with their nameon them, either because the film was inspired by one of their best-selling works, likeMitchell's Cloud Atlas, Cunningham's The Hours and A Hone at the End of tl.teWorld andIshigurds Rerrains of the Day andNeoer Let Me Go, or in the case of lshigiirci and

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Cli.urningham they've also tried their hand at screenwriting.

Viewing this impressive list of award winning novels adapted into Oscar nominated andwinning films made me realize how much cinema spring from books, but also wonderwhat the allure is for movie directors. I thought perhaps Lery, who is also on the Museumof Fine Arts filrn committee, might give me some perspective.

Team Book vs. Team Film

When it comes to film adaptations, Levy is not surprisingly on Team Book, arguing: "Usually, the filrn versions of books are notsatisfying for people who love the books," but he also thinks the stories in books can be great inspiration for filmmakers.

He does note that there are some great films out there that have introduced a novel to a new audience and that book and film can"coexist pretty nicely."

"I dont think film makers necessarily want to redo wirat's been done on the page, andthey can't. But then ihey can bring it to life in a way the writer only has words to workwitlg" he says.

After discussing what filmmakers get out of using a novel as a source for a movie - analready proven good story that probably got under the filmmakels skin -I asked what'sin it for writers like Culningham, Mitchell and Ishirguro.

Money, of course, was Levy's first answer. A film version of an author's novel can certainlygive the writer the monetary space and time to work on the next novel. But Ler,y, a poet inhis own righ! moves on from the practical to the artistic.

"I think it's probably very interesting to see how this thing - that came out of your headthat you invented and then put down on the page in words - how someone is going to

create a two dimen-sional version of that " he muses. "That must be a surreal and marvelous experience, if you can let go the factthat it's no longer yours."

So what will be the next great novel enticing filmmakers to bring ii to the screen? Could it be Mii chel! s The Bone Clocks, vthichhe'llbe reading to Houston audiences on Sept. 21, only a fewweeks after it debuts? Maybe they'll feel a chill from Cunningham'sThe Snow Queen,hkeHouston fans undoubtedly will on Nov. 10.

Is Ishiguro's fust novel in a decadg The Buried Giant, t&ichlne reads on March 23, the one? Or perhaps it will be Karen l{usseli,reading onlan. 26, v,atrore Swatnplandia came clos;e- to being the next big liBO series.

Stili, we can't cormt out the other highlights of the season.

A Celebration of the Short Story on Oct. 13

One of the greats of the short story form, Deborah Eisenberg, and UH's own,\rionyar lrJelson, whose latest collectron FunnyOnce just came out this surnmer help us remember some tales are best told in bite sized pieces.

One (actually two) for the poetry lovers on Feb.23As a reminder that we don't have to wait for April to celebrate poetry, Inprint presents 2013 National Book Award winner MarySzybist and National Book Award finalist Kevin Young.

Up and Coming Voices on April 20

Cristina Henriquez and Marlon James are telling vastly different stories in their new novels. Henrique z's The Book of llnknownAmericans gives readers distinctive and timeiy stories of immigrants. James s A Brief History of Snen Kltings recalls the 1976

attempted assassination of Bob Marley.

But both juggle nurnerous narrators in order to give us multiple points of views into these worlds.

Nonfiction Takes a Bow on May 11

To sail the season into the sunsef celebrated essayist Gmff Dyer will read fuomhis Anothet Gteat Day at Sea, a chronicling of histwo weeks with the msr and women aboard the aircraft carrier the USS George H.W. Bush. Inprint has frequently broughtnonfiction giants to the stage, but they're now making an effort to have a creative nonfiction night every year, bringrng"memoirist a lot writers who, Iike Dyer, are not afraid to insert themselves in the work."

The season brings many new worlds to explore and a multitude of new voices, real and imaginary, so enjoy immersing yourself,u,'hiie knowing that there's probably a director out there reading with you, wondering if there's another Oscar in here for MeryiSlreep.

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xxx Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com | Sunday, September 21, 2014 | G7

SUNDAY

Susan Wittig Albert: Authorwill discuss and sign “The Dar-ling Dahlias” and the “The SilverDollar Bush,” 2 p.m. Murder ByThe Book, 2342 Bissonnet;713-524-8597, or toll free888-424-2842 or murderbooks.com.

Chris Guillebeau: Author willdiscuss and sign “The Happi-ness of Pursuit,” 2 p.m., BrazosBookstore, 2421 Bissonnet;713-523-0701 or brazosbook-store.com.

David Mitchell: Author willdiscuss and sign “The BoneClocks,” 7:30 p.m. (doors open6:45 p.m.), Wortham TheaterCenter, 501 Texas, as part ofInprint’s Margarett Root BrownReadng Series. $5. Information:inprinthouston.org.

MONDAY

Melissa Guion: Author readsfrom her children’s books “BabyPenguins Everywhere!” and“Baby Penguins Love TheirMama,” and invites attendeesto create their own penguinmasterpieces with providedart materials, noon-1 p.m.,Heights Neighborhood Library,

1302 Heights, 832-393-1810 orhoustonlibrary.org.

Harry Greene: Author will sign“Tracks and Shadows: FieldBiology as Art,” following alecture entitled “Why ShouldWe Care About Nature?” 6:30p.m., Houston Museum ofNatural Science, Wortham GiantScreen Theatre, 5555 HermannPark. $18; $12 HMNS members.Information: 713-639-4629 orhmns.org.

TUESDAY

Cynthia Kadohata: Author willdiscuss and sign her new novelfor children, “Half a World Away,”5 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop,

14532 Memorial; 281-497-8675or bluewillowbookshop.com.

WEDNESDAY

Merritt Tierce: Author will dis-cuss and sign “Love Me Back,” 7p.m., Brazos Bookstore.

THURSDAY

Barbara Barnes Sims: Authorwill discuss and sign “The NextElvis: Searching for Stardomat Sun Records,” 7 p.m., BrazosBookstore.

FRIDAY

Deborah Crombie: Author willdiscuss and sign “To Dwell inDarkness,” 6:30 p.m., Murder ByThe Book.

Margot Backus: Author willdiscuss and sign “ScandalWork: James Joyce, the NewJournalism and the Home RuleNewspaper Wars,” 7 p.m., BrazosBookstore.

SATURDAY

Tweens Read 2014: Tweenreading event with appearancesby several authors includingJackie Woodson (“Brown GirlDreaming”) and Margaret Peter-son Haddix (“The Living”), 9:30

a.m.-5 p.m., South Houston HighSchool, 3820 Shaver Street;tweensread.com.

Katie Clark and Sarah Wynne:Authors will read and discuss“River Royals,” their picture bookfor children, 11 a.m. at the BigBlue Whale, 237 W. 19th; 832-623-6990.

LibroFEST: Houston PublicLibrary presents inauguralpoet Richard Blanco andNational Book Critics Circle’sIvan Sandrof Lifetime Achieve-ment Award-winner RolandoHinojosa, as part of a day-longfestival celebrating Latino litera-ture and culture. Festival runsNoon-8:30 p.m. at the CentralLibrary, 500 McKinney; Blancoand Hinojosa appear 6 p.m. inthe Julia Ideson Building, 550MckKnney; 832-393-1313. Ad-ditional authors, musicians andwriting and arts activities will bepart of a LibroFEST celebrationfrom 12:45-5 p.m. at the FloresNeighborhood Library, 110 NorthMilby; 832-393-1780.

Whit McClendon: Author andmartial arts instructor signs fan-tasy novel, “Mage’s Burden,” 1-2p.m., Katy Budget Books, 2450Fry, Houston; 281-578-7770 orkatybooks.com.

BOOK EVENTS

ZEST

On the phone fromhis hotel in Washington,D.C., David Mitchell ispleasant. Chatty.

Readers know from hisbooks — “Cloud Atlas”and “The ThousandAutumns of Jacob deZoet” among them —that this is a man withexpansive ideas, a grandimagination. His plotscross time and space,soaring with speculations(and judgments) on love,memory, technology,energy consumption,race, gender, eventhe transmigration ofsouls. In conversation,I sensed a similaromniverousness, asif he didn’t want to becorralled into either/orquestions or simple ideas.

So when asked whichbooks and authors haveinfluenced him — a dullenough question, but onethat can be fruitful — Iwasn’t surprised whenhe trotted out a list andthen backed off it with adouble negative.

In his 20s, he says,he enjoyed “the usual.”“To the Lighthouse,”“Dubliners,” HermannHesse, Milan Kundera,Gabriel García Marquez,Gunter Grass and (thenot so usual) TobiasSmollet. (“He’s quite rudeand quite funny. Quiteribald.”).

“But it’s hard toimagine influences,”Mitchell says, startingto retreat. “To whatdegree they made whoyou are, I’m not reallysure. But this list is notunrepresentative.”

Mitchell, 45 — “thoughI feel about 90; I’m in themiddle of a book tour”“ — will be in Houstontonight to read from hisnew novel, “The BoneClocks,” currently No. 3on the New York Timesbest-seller list.

His appearancelaunches the 2014-15season of Inprint’sMargarett Root BrownReading Series.

Like earlier works,“The Bone Clocks” — areference to our mortalbodies — is a time-traveling supernaturalsaga, in this instancepitting two groups ofimmortals against eachother: Anchorites, whoprey on living souls toextend their lives, andAtemporals, whose soulsnaturally inhabit newbodies 50 days after theircurrent bodies expire.Among this latter groupsis Marinus, a wise manand a major character in“The Thousand Autumnsof Jacob de Zoet.”

The understory,though, follows the arcof one mortal life: HollySykes, whom we meetin 1984 as a teenager inthe suburbs of London,and say good-bye to onIreland’s Sheep’s Headpeninsula in 2043.

Why a femaleprotagonist?

“Because I’ve neverwritten a full-lengthnovel with a femaleprotagonist,” Mitchellsays. “I knew there’dbe difficulties. Iwanted to incorporatethose difficulties intosomething good. Itstretched me. My wifehelped me a lot. She’snot backward in beingforthright ... I’m alwaysvery grateful, even if itsonly afterwards.”

Holly’s arc coincideswith some very old souls,who have visited manydifferent bodies in manydifferent centuries, whichmake for compelling backstories.

There is no one threadMitchell aims to unravelin “The Bone Clocks.”

“Reality is much moremessy than that,” heobserves.

Which is to say, thereare many threads.

“I was greedy,” helaughs. “I wanted morethan one thread. I wanteda kind of compendiumof all significant humanrelationships: mother-daughter, father-daughter, sister-sister,aunt-niece, parent-parent, lover-lover,guardian-ward... Theseare sort of basic elementsin the periodic table ofhuman relationships.”

He also wanted athread about mortality.

“There is this middleof your life point. Death

is notimminenton thehorizon.But it’sthere inthe mirrorthe mirror and in yourand in your back and inback and in

your shortness of breathwhen you take the stairsinstead of the elevator....What would you beprepared to pay to cheatthis process if you couldkeep your youth, yourhealth, your looks andthis bottomless wealth ofthis bottomless wealth of time?”

And finally, Mitchellsays, when he shows thedifferent stages in Holly’slife, he must show theworld in different stages,as well. That allows himto slip from the SwissAlps to the Australianbush, from the world weknow to a world we canonly imagine.

By the end of “TheBone Clocks,” whatcivilized society nowtakes for granted —connectivity, technology,abundant food fromanywhere around theglobe — is fast becominga distant memory.

As one of Mitchell’scharacters has predicted,the future looks a lot likethe past.

“An addicted industrialsociety has fallen to itsknees,” Mitchell says.

“The Bone Clocks”is Mitchell’s sixth noveland seventh book. In2013, he and his wife,Keiko Yoshida, releaseda translation of NaokiHigashida’s “The ReasonI Jump,” an intimatejourney into the mindof autism. One of thecouple’s two children isautistic.

All of Mitchell’snovels except the first,“Ghostwritten,” have

been short- or long-listed for Britain’s highlyregarded Booker Prize.He occupies an enviableplace in the literaryworld: his action-fueled,genre-bending booksgenre-bending books are imaginative enoughare imaginative enough for voracious fantasyfor voracious fantasy readers (geeks), andreaders (geeks), and literary enough forliterary enough for people who aren’tpeople who aren’t looking for a steadylooking for a steady diet of the supernaturaldiet of the supernatural in their fiction,in their fiction, thankyouverymuchthankyouverymuch (snobs).(snobs).

He already is workingHe already is working on his next book.on his next book.

“I’m trying out some“I’m trying out some ideas that didn’t make itideas that didn’t make it into “The Bone Clocks,”into “The Bone Clocks,” Mitchell explains. “ItMitchell explains. “It could be supernaturalcould be supernatural again. Marinus will beagain. Marinus will be

in it.”Because Mitchell’s

stories are so detailed,so thick with symbolsand signs and processeshatched by an inventivemind, I ask if he has

groupies akin to Trekkies— readers who really getinto the minutiae.

But “groupies” is the

wrong word.“Sounds a bit conde-

scending?” he half-asks.“I guess you could sayhyper attentive readers.HARs, we’ll call them.Yeah. I just did a questionand answer on Reddit andsome people must havespent hours composingtheir questions. Some-times I do have conversa-tions with that level offine detail. You don’t haveto get all the details to getpleasure from the books,but people who are inter-ested in details ... I putthem in for them.”

Not bad for a man whonever really decided to bea fiction writer.

“I would have sharp,visceral fantasies —imagine my name on thecover of a book — butthat’s when I was young,”Mitchell says.

“I don’t think I everdid decide to be a writer. Iwas aware of the possi-bility it was something Imight like to try.”

Robert Wuensche photo illustration / Houston Chronicle | Fotolia

‘The Bone Clocks’By David MitchellRandom House,

640 pp., $30

‘Bone Clocks’ runs on souls, survivorsREVIEW

maggie.galehouse@chron.com

ByMaggie Galehouse

Author appearanceDavid Mitchell kicks off the Inprint Margarett Root BrownReading Series 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Wortham TheaterCenter, 501 Texas. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.; general admis-sion tickets are $5. Information: inprinthouston.org.

Mitchell

G2 | Sunday, October 12, 2014 | Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com x x x

ZEST Arts Editor, roberta.macinnis@chron.com @RobertaMacInnis Houston Chronicle Life & Entertainment

Eisenberg’s four short-storycollections were reprintedin 2010 as “The CollectedStories of Deborah Eisenberg,”which won the Pen/FaulknerAward for Fiction. A recipientof a MacArthur Foundation“genius” fellowship and theRea Award for the Short Story,Eisenberg, 68, also teachescreative writing and literaturein Columbia’s MFA program.

Q: You told the ParisReview that you sense acondescension toward shortfiction, as if it were “a kiddieform, appropriate to women,as if stories were the equiva-lent of knitting socks forthe men, who are out in themines, actually doing some-thing.” Did Alice Munro’sNobel Prize in 2013 do any-thing to elevate short fictionin the literary hierarchy?

A: Certainly it doesn’t changewhat I think about it. I alwaysthought short fiction waspossibly a more serious formthan longer fiction, althoughit’s ridiculous to divide fictionbecause there’s just one piece offiction and another, and each isas serious —or not — as it is.

Q: Do you stay pluggedinto fiction trends? Do youever write for what the mar-ket seems to want?

A: I’m really not aware ofthe publishing or business sideof literature at all. I never haveany idea what’s going on. I don’tread reviews. I don’t make anyattempt to keep up. I’m try-ing to catch up. I’m literallyhundreds of years behind. I’mjust interested in discoveringwhat fiction can do and what is

expressible in my ownmind.

Q:When you teach, do youshare certain strategies forwriting or understandingfiction?

A: I would say it’s impos-sible to extrapolate rules orprinciples. I don’t believe that areally good piece of fiction canbe cracked. That is, you canarticulate certain principlesthat you infer, but they’re neverreally correct. That’s an a prioriway of looking at fiction. Ofcourse, you can see or say cer-tain things, but you can’t learnto replicate anybody’s work.You’d need a soul transplantfor that. So really, the reasonto read with close attention issimply for the sheer aestheticthrill of taking a walk throughsomebody’s brain. And ofcourse, reading. One thinks, ohyes, you learn to read in secondgrade. But actually it’s a lifelongprocess — the refining of yourattention to and appreciationfor the way words can be used.

Q: You were 26 when youmet your life partner, Wal-lace Shawn, a playwright andactor best known for “MyDinnerWith Andre,” “ThePrincess Bride” and his play,“The DesignatedMourner.”Do you benefit from havinganother creative brain in thehouse?

A: It’s absolutely wonderfulto live with him. He has a greatbrain. A certifiably great brain.He’s just the most wonder-ful and generous person. He’salways my first reader. I showhimmywork when I believethat I am absolutely finished.But I don’t show himmyworkin progress — at least I don’tthink it’s in progress.We once

wrote a screenplay togetherwhich, like most screenplays,was never made. … And Iperformed in his play, “TheDesignatedMourner,” one ofthe great thrills of my life.

Q: “Twilight of the Super-heroes,” your story about ahandful of people living inNew York during and after9/11, articulates an era ofconfusion and decline. Didyou write the story with anyclear sense of what you weretrying to say about the attackon the twin towers?

A: I didn’t intend to write astory about what we call 9/11. Ihate that term. I find it appall-ing. It sort of institutionalizes acertain attitude of justificationfor crimes that we’ve subse-quently committed, terriblecrimes both against ourselvesand others. It’s a very pomp-ous piece of rhetoric. I did startto keep notes. I was afraidthat my own understandingof what was happening— ofwhat had happened, a processthat even now has not reallybeen revealed—would becomeconfused and subject to the con-struction that one automaticallyputs onmemories. I really triedto keep some record of what Iwas seeing as I was seeing it.Over a long period of time, itbecame a matter for me that Iwanted to explore in fiction.It was a sort of elegy to me, aconsideration of a great altera-tion in our national attitudes,our feelings about ourselvesand the way we see ourselves.That group of stories (“Twilightof the Superheroes” also is thetitle of a collection of storiesEisenberg published in 2007),they tend to collect around afeeling of the end of empire.

And it’s the empire I grew up inand, of course, have allegianceto, whether it’s conscious ornot. That’s my world, whichhas undergone vast and suddenalterations and disruptions.

Q: You appeared in anepisode of “Gossip Girl” asyourself. I can’t think ofmany shows in which you’dbe less likely to appear!

A: Isn’t that hilarious? Itwas the idea of one of the writ-ers on the show and it just, Ithink it amused her. I’m notan actor; I actually prefer theword actress, I must say. ButI’m not one. I had seen a coupleepisodes thatWallace was on(Shawn appeared in the recur-ring role of lawyer Cyrus Rose).I’m not a big TV person. I don’tlike the sound, even. It was lots

and lots of fun, but I had thisvery odd experience. For “TheDesignatedMourner” I had anextremely big part. Really huge.A solid hour of text. But I hadno trouble with it at all. Andthen I had one line for “GossipGirl.” I had a week to learn it. Isuppose it was a sort of hys-teria. I simply could not learnthat line. The scene I was in wasvery complicated with a zillionextras — a challenge to direct.When it came time for my line,with the greatest difficulty Imanaged to dredge it up intomy consciousness. After it wasover, the director said, “Excuseme, but you forgot to say ‘I’mDeborah Eisenberg.’ The onlypart of it I forgot was my ownname.

Deborah Eisenberg celebrated with partnerWallace Shawnafter winning the 2011 Penn/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Diana Michener

Eisenberg from page G1

Eisenbergsays she’s catchinguponhundredsofyearsof reading

maggie.galehouse@chron.com

The show, as every-one knows, must go on.Except, of course, when itcan’t.

Programming changesare as much a part ofany company’s life as theproductions themselves.And we’re at that pointin the relatively young2014-15 season whensome theatersare announcingchanges for thenear horizon—specifically, twoshows that wereto play this fall.

Catastrophic The-atre has canceled plansfor its world premiereof Miki Johnson’s “TheEconomist,” which was toopen Nov. 21. Catastrophicartistic director JasonNodler, who was to direct,and Johnson, the play-wright, have ended theireight-year relationship.

“Sadly, after eight yearstogether, we’ve brokenup,” Nodler says, “andthat makes collaboratingvery difficult.” Cata-strophic had producedworld premieres of John-son’s “American Falls,”“Fleaven” and “clean/through.”

Catastrophic’s nextproject, Nodlersays, will be theworld premiereof Mark Schultz’s“The BlackestShore,” which

will introduceHouston audiences to

this emerging playwrightwhen it opens Feb. 13.Nodler, who has beenunable to direct mostof this year because ofdebilitating treatment forchronic Lyme disease, issufficiently recovered andplans to direct “The Black-est Shore.”

A second Schultz playwill be part of Catastroph-ic’s 2015 agenda, whichNodler will announcelater this fall.

Classical TheatreCompany also ismaking

changes— but in this case,the productionwill be re-scheduled. “The SpeckledBand: AnAdventure ofSherlockHolmes,” whichwas to begin Oct. 15, is be-ing postponed.

Classical Theatre Com-pany, which produced its2013-14 season at the Barn(formerly Barnevelder),likely will not be returningto that venue, accordingto Johnson. He says thecompany is in negotiationsto acquire its own venuefor the company’s 2014-15productions, including “AChristmas Carol,” open-ing Dec. 9. “The SpeckledBand,” TimothyN. Evers’new adaptation of theArthur ConanDoyle story,is being rescheduled for aFebruary opening.

Everett Evans

Next FotoFestputs a lens onthe world

Guess theyweren’t soready to retire after all.When FotoFest returnsMarch 12-April 29, 2016,foundersWendyWatriss

and Frederick Baldwinwill join director StevenEvans as curators. They’vechosen a truly globaltheme this time around:“Changing Circumstances:Looking at the Future ofthe Planet.”

Expect exhibitionsand other programs thatinvolve not just artistsbut also environmentalexperts, writers and policymakerswhowill exploreissues of climate change,population growth andmigration, globalizeduse of natural resources,capital and the impact ofnew technologies. Thesix-week-long biennialwill unfold acrossmultiplevenues and feature com-missioned projects, a filmprogram, a performingarts program and art-ist workshops aswell aslectures and conferences.

Molly Glentzer

Catastophic Theatre cancels premiere plans

Craig Hartley

Catastrophic Theatre director Jason Noodler has can-celed the premiere of Miki Johnson’s “The Economist.”

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Houston Chronicle | Sunday, March 1, 2015 | HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com

ZESTGRAY MATTERS

Leonard Nimoy’sMr. Spock was one ofthe most counterculturefigures of the 1960s.

HoustonChronicle.com/GrayMatters

Symphonypops

@HoustonChronHouston Chronicle Section G 666

DINING OUT SOCIETY DIARIES

Weights and Measures was“meant to be” says chef/owner. Page G10

Former President GeorgeW. Bush entertains at anexclusive dinner. Page G14

STARSALIGN BIG EVENTSBALLET

Stanton Welch debutshis take on Shakespeare’s‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Page G2

BARD BARRE

ZESTCLASSICAL MUSIC

conductor has big plansfor final years in Houston.

Page G14

In 1987, Kazuo Ishiguroholed up in his SouthLondon home andwrotemaniacally—not caringabout style or finer plotpoints, writing freehandas fast as thewords andphrases came.

Hewrote 12 hours aday, six days aweek, forfourweeks. Andwhenhe finished, he had a firstdraft of “The Remains of

the Day,”a BookerPrize-winningbook thatbroughthim inter-nationalacclaim andbecame an

Oscar-nominated film.“The Buried Giant,”

Ishiguro’s strange and

haunting new book—hisfirst novel in 10 years—had a longer gestation.

“Asmuch as 15 yearsback, I wanted towriteabout society’s remem-bering and forgetting,”said Ishiguro, 60, on thephone fromhis home inEngland. “It was triggeredbywhat happened in the1990s, whenYugoslavia

Ishiguroonwar, forgetfulnessandcowboys

Columbia Pictures

“The Remains of the Day,” based on Ishiguro’s novel,stars Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins.Bookish continues on G6

MAGGIEGALEHOUSEBookish

KazuoIshiguroThe author will read anddiscuss his work as a guestof Inprint’s Margarett RootBrown Reading Series.

When: 7:30 p.m. March 23

Where: Wortham TheaterCenter, 501 Texas

Tickets: $5;inprinthouston.org.

For RodeoHouston, more ismore when it comes to style.

“Everyone wants the flow-y lookof feathers and fringe,”Waller de-

signer Pat Dahnke says. “We’veadded them to our pieces andhave had themost success-ful collection in our 47-yearhistory.”

The casual-chic look hasmass appeal, she says. “Any-

one can buy one ‘wow’ pieceandmix it in.”

Dahnke designs beaded, custom-dyed tops embellishedwith Coquerooster feathers. She tops the looksoffwith turquoise, another must-

have for rodeo.Fringe and feathers have ap-

peared in designers’ ready-to-wearcollections and at retailers fromPalais Royal andMacy’s to special-ty stores like Pinto Ranch, whichsells Dahnke’s collection, and thenew Lucchese store in HighlandVillage.

“Fringe has been a staple inWestern wear. Now, it’s on therunway, and there are even bootswith fringe,” says Bea Garcia, PintoRanch’s director of marketing. “Westarted seeing it in stores last sea-son. It seems like an element everydesigner is doing.”

Garcia says she even snapped

Boots and a hat justaren’t going to cut it atRodeoHouston, as anycowgirl worth her saltknows. Add some

fringe, feathersand turquoise,

and you’ve got thestart of a friendshipbetween fashion andWestern sensibilities

By Joy Sewing

Rodeo continues on G9

Gary Coronado photos / Houston Chronicle

Above, Lucchese Parker cross body bag, $1,295,Lucchese. Top, Taylor Hammonds of Neal HamilAgency is wearing a 4 Love & Liberty top, $255;Juan Antonio Belt, $249; Lucchese Saratoga Boots,$1,295; all from Lucchese in Highland Village.

STYLE

G6 | Sunday, March 1, 2015 | Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com x x x

ZEST Book Editor, maggie.galehouse@chron.com @MaggieGalehouse Houston Chronicle Life & Entertainment

BOOKS

Fiction1. The Girl on the Train:By Paula Hawkins. Apsychological thrillerset in London is fullof complications andbetrayals.

2. All the LightWe Cannot See:By Anthony Doerr. Thelives of a blind French girland a gadget-obsessedGerman boy before andduring World War II.

3. Obsession in Death:By J.D. Robb. A murdereris obsessed with Lt. EveDallas; by Nora Roberts,writing pseudonymously.

4. A Spool ofBlue Thread: By AnneTyler. Four generationsof a family are drawn toa house in the Baltimoresuburbs.

5. The Nightingale:

By Kristin Hannah. Twosisters in World War IIFrance: one struggling tosurvive in the countryside,the other joining theResistance in Paris.

6. Trigger Warning:By Neil Gaiman. Stories andpoems about the power ofimagination.

7. Motive: By Jonathan

Kellerman. The LosAngeles psychologist-detective Alex Delawareand Milo Sturgis, ahomicide cop, realizethat the murder they’reinvestigating wascommitted by a serial killer.

8. Private Vegas:By James Pattersonand Maxine Paetro. JackMorgan, the head of aninvestigative firm, uncoversa murder ring in Las Vegas.

9. Gray Mountain:By John Grisham. In asmall Virginia town, adownsized Wall Streetlawyer becomes involvedin litigation against themining industry.

10. Twelve Days:By Alex Berenson. Theformer CIA operative JohnWells discovers a plot totrick the president intoinvading Iran.

Nonfiction1. Being Mortal: By AtulGawande. The surgeon andNew Yorker writer considershow doctors fail patientsat the end of life, and offerssuggestions for how theycan do better; the subject ofa PBS documentary.

2. Killing Patton: By BillO’Reilly and Martin Dugard.The host of “The O’ReillyFactor” recounts the deathof Gen. George S. Patton.

3. Believer: By DavidAxelrod. A memoir by thepolitical consultant whobecame Barack Obama’scampaign strategist andWhite House adviser.

4. Yes Please: By AmyPoehler. A humorous mis-cellany from the comedianand actress, an alumnaof “Saturday Night Live”and the star of “Parks andRecreation.”

5. What If?: By RandallMunroe. Scientific (butoften humorous) answersto hypothetical questions,based in part on the au-thor’s website, xkcd.com.

6. Sapiens: By Yuval NoahHarari. How Homo sapiensbecame Earth’s dominantspecies.

7. Leaving Before the

Rains Come: By AlexandraFuller. A memoir of amarriage’s collapse, by theauthor of “Don’t Let’s Goto the Dogs Tonight” and“Cocktail Hour Under theTree of Forgetfulness.”

8. Red Notice: By BillBrowder. An Americanhedge-fund manager inRussia who became thelargest foreign investor inthe Russian stock marketand was eventuallyexpelled by kleptocrats whothen seized his property.

9. As You Wish:By Cary Elwes with JoeLayden. The making of themovie “The Princess Bride,”25 years ago.

10. The Reaper: By Nicho-las Irving with Gary Brozek.A memoir by a deadlyspecial operations sniperdeployed to Afghanistan.

New York Times

BEST-SELLERS

LisaMcMannwill discussandsign“IslandofShipwrecks”(UnwantedsSeries,No.5), 5p.m.Thursday,BlueWillowBookshop, 14532Memorial; 281-497-8675orbluewillowbookshop.com.

“What did he looklike?” growled theold pirate captainwith hooks for

hands. He slammedone of the hooks onthe table in frontof the slave, andit made a garishclang. “Who isresponsible?”

Daxel said nothing.He couldn’t speak.None of the slavesthat the pirateshad bought fromtheir friend QueenEagala could speak.But Daxel couldwrite, and thepirates knew it.Still, he stared atthe map and theblank pieces ofpaper in front

of him and shookhis head.

from “Island of Shipwrecks”by Lisa McMann

BOOK EXCERPT

andRwanda disintegrated intohorrific civil wars. In both cases,people who had been living veryharmoniously, sometimes nextdoor to each other, turned oneach other andmassacred eachother. So I had a story inmyhead, but it tookme a long timeto find a suitable setting.”

Setting is a stepping-off pointin all of Ishiguro’s books. A care-ful and subtle writer, he luresreaders into the realm of plausi-bility—his 2005 cloning novel“Never LetMeGo”was set in analternative dystopian 1990s Eng-land— and once they’re snared,he’s free to focus on themoretimeless troubles of humanity.

In “The Remains of the Day,”Ishiguro considered the person-al cost of obsessive professional-ism. In “Never LetMeGo,” heexamined the slow destructionof hope. In “The Buried Giant,”he contemplates the pros andcons of collective forgetfulness— in amarried couple and insociety at large.

The new book is set in late-fifth-century Britain, when set-tlers were arriving in ships fromtheNorth Sea. Several genres arerepresented, includingArthu-rian legend (an aged Sir Gawainrides in on his aged horse), fairytales (dragons and giants) andBritish history.

“I had it inmymind it was490A.D.— a period no one real-ly knows about,” Ishiguro said.“It was truly a dark century.The Saxons basically settled thecountry around this time. Andthe general consensus is therewas some sort of genocide, withnew people landing steadily onthe coast, coming in from theEuropeanmainland.”

Despite the historical specif-ics, Ishiguro’s book retreats intoa kind of fantastic realism.

“My settings tend to bemeta-phorical,” said the author, whowas born in Japan andmovedto England as a boy. “I did havea rule: If it was conceivable thatthe people of that time couldbelieve certain things existed,those thingswere allowed to ex-ist. So, no flying saucers.”

War is in the air in “TheBuried Giant,” and somethingelse about the airmakes peopleforgetful. The cast includes abrave knight namedWistan; ayoung knight named Edwin,bent on avenging hismother’sdeath; Gawain, a solitaryknight charged by the late King

Arthur to slay a she-dragon;and Beatrice andAxl, an elderlycouplewho have set out on aperilous journey to help themremember their past.

“Many of the same questionswe ask about societies apply torelationships,” Ishiguro said.“Most have their dark corners.

They’veweathered throughsomething, and they’ve agreedto bury it. But is that right?Does there come a point when asociety or amarried couple needto remember?”

Ironically, it was Ishiguro’slongtime partner, LornaMacDougall, who read a draftof the book’s first 60 pages andreturned it with some pointedadvice.

“She toldme it would notdo,” said Ishiguro, who’s beenmarried toMacDougall since1986. “She said, ‘There’s noway. You’re going to have tostart again from scratch.’ It wasbecause of the language, whichshe felt was too ornate. Shethought it was laughable.”

It took Ishiguro a bit of timeto recover from this critique. Hewrote “Nocturnes,” his 2009short story collection.Whenhewent back to “The BuriedGiant,” he began simplifying thelanguage.

“I started to subtract by tak-

ing out little words here andthere, and I rather liked it,” hesaid.

The book’s diction does have astripped-away quality— a spareformality reminiscent of a fairytale.

Ishiguro said he’s grateful forhis wife’s truth telling.

“She knewme before I wasawriter,” the author said. “Shemetmewhen Iwas trying tobe amusician. Becausewe’vehad somany discussions andarguments about books andmovies, I knowwherewe tendto disagree and agree. Andweagree about language.”

MacDougall also has set asidea copy of LarryMcMurtry’s“LonesomeDove” for herhusband to read.

“There it is in the bedroom,”Ishiguro said. “She says it’s anuttermasterpiece.”

In December, Ishigurowrotean essay for the Guardianexplaining howFrancisFord Coppola’s film “TheConversation” and TomWaits’ballad “Ruby’s Arms” influenced“The Remains of the Day.”

Does “The Buried Giant” havea sound track? Or a film track?

“Those elegaic westerns bySamPeckinpah,” Ishiguro said.“The lone figure on the horse,out of time, his era passed. He’saging, but he still has somemartial skill. Gawain owes a lotto those characters.”

The samurai stories he grewupwith also crept into “The Bur-ied Giant.”

“That’s the Japanese part ofme, I guess,” Ishiguro said. “ButI like the anti-samuraimovies,the anti-militarist moviesmadeafterWorldWar II.”

And does he everwonderif “DowntonAbbey”—nowmuddling through the 1920s—will simply crash-land into“The Remains of the Day?” IfMr. Stevens andMiss Kenton,played byAnthonyHopkins andEmmaThompson in the film,will suddenly find themselvesdownstairs at Downton,enjoying a cup of teawithMr.Carson andMrs. Hughes?

“I’ve neverwatched‘DowntonAbbey,’” Ishiguroacknowledged. “I’m really badwith television. I can’t watch oneepisode and leave it for aweek.If I have towatch a televisionseries, I do it with a box set and Iwatch it in one day. I’m going todo that with ‘DowntonAbbey.’”

maggie.galehouse@chron.com

Bookish from page G1

Bookish: ‘Giant’ crosses genres

‘The Buried Giant’By Kazuo Ishiguro.

Knopf, 320 pp., $26.95.

Jeff Cottenden

Kazuo Ishiguro

Houstonia, March 9, 2015

xxx Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com | Sunday, April 19, 2015 | G5

SUNDAY

Crimson Romance AuthorSigning: Authors Karen SueBurns, Andrea R. Cooper,Nicole Flockton, ElizabethMeyette and Shelley K. Wallwill sign their books, 3-5 p.m.,Katy Budget Books, 2450 Fry,Houston; 281-578-7770 orkatybooks.com.

MONDAY

Cristina Henríquezand Marlon James:Henríquez (“The Book ofUnknown Americans”) andMarlon James (“A BriefHistory of Seven Killings”) willdiscuss and sign their booksas part of Inprint’s MargarettRoot Brown Reading Series,7:30 p.m, Wortham TheaterCenter, 501 Texas. $5 generaladmission. Information:inprinthouston.org.

TUESDAY

Karen Kasmauski:National Geographicphotographer and co-author of “Nurse: A Worldof Care,” will sign 5-7 p.m.,River Oaks Bookstore, 3270Westheimer; 713-520-0061 orriveroaksbookstore.com.

WEDNESDAY

Henry (Hank) PaulsonJr.: Author and f FormerTreasury Secretary willdiscuss his book, “Dealingwith China,” in conversationwith Ambassador EdwardDjerejian, 6 p.m., AsiaSociety Texas Center, 1370Southmore. $30; $20members. Information: 713-496-9901 or asiasociety.org/texas.

Ryan Gattis:Author will discussand sign “All Involved,”7 p.m., Brazos Bookstore,2421 Bissonnet; 713-523-0701or brazosbookstore.com.

THURSDAY

Connor Franta:Author will meet fans as theyreceive pre-signed copies of“Work in Progress,” 6 p.m.,Blue Willow Bookshop,14532 Memorial; 281-497-8675 or bluewillowbookshop.com.

Kevin Prufer andMichael Morse: Poets willread from their works, 7 p.m.,Brazos Bookstore.

FRIDAY

Chase Untermeyer:Author and former U.S.ambassador to Qatar will sign“Inside Reagan’s Navy: ThePentagon Journals,” 5-7 p.m.,River Oaks Bookstore.

Duane Swierczynskiand Dennis Tafoya:Swierczynski will sign anddiscuss “Canary”and Tafoyawill sign and discuss “ThePoor Boy’s Game,” 6:30 p.m.,Murder By The Book, 2342Bissonnet; 713-524-8597, ortoll-free 888-424-2842 ormurderbooks.com.

James Bradley:Author will discuss and sign“The China Mirage,” 7 p.m.,Brazos Bookstore.

Gwendolyn Zepeda:Poet reads from her newcollection, “Monsters,Zombies and Addicts,”7:30 p.m., MECA DowSchool Auditorium,1900 Kane; 713-802-9370.

SATURDAY

Joy Preble:Author will discuss and signher newest novel for teens,“Finding Paris,” 2 p.m., BlueWillow Bookshop.

Terry Shamesand James Anderson:Shames will sign anddiscuss “The Last Death ofJack Harbin” and Andersonwill sign and discuss “TheNever-Open Desert Diner,”4:30 p.m., Murder By TheBook.

Maggie Galehouse

BOOK EVENTS

Marlon James’ latest novel isa Jamaican symphony, a sea ofdistinct and unforgettable voices.

“A Brief History of SevenKillings” wraps fiction aroundone historical fact: the attemptedassassination of Bob Marley inKingston, Jamaica, on Dec. 3,1976.

The first half of the sagacircles this incident, imaginingthe gang members and schem-ers who, wittingly or unwit-tingly, might have been part ofthis politically charged event.The second half reaches beyondKingston to Montego Bay, Miamiand New York, up through theearly 1990s.

“A big book is almostlike a double album,”says James, 44, whoseaccent belies his nativeJamaica, although he’s onthe phone from Minne-sota, where he now lives.“You give yourself a bigcanvas to try things. Andeven if it fails some-where, well, another 300pages are coming along.”

This attitude squares with oneof the more memorable asides inthe book: “Jamaicans are so un-flappable,” James writes, “theymight as well be Minnesotans.”

Reading “A Brief History ofSeven Killings” — nearly 700pages and a cast of charactersnorth of 70 — is challenging andintense. Each chapter is told infirst-person; chapter headers tellreaders who’s talking. Some-times it’s a CIA station chief intimes it’s a CIA station chief in Kingston. Sometimes it’s the donKingston. Sometimes it’s the don of a Jamaican gang unspooling aof a Jamaican gang unspooling a thick, stream-of-consciousnessthick, stream-of-consciousness patois. Sometimes it’s the ghostpatois. Sometimes it’s the ghost of a dead politician. Sometimesof a dead politician. Sometimes a Rolling Stone reporter... anda Rolling Stone reporter... and the list goes on. Only one voicethe list goes on. Only one voice speaks at a time, but the voicesspeaks at a time, but the voices come together in your head.come together in your head. You’re still thinking about whatYou’re still thinking about what the gang member said — “It’s athe gang member said — “It’s a hell of a thing when a gun comehell of a thing when a gun come home to live with you” — buthome to live with you” — but now you’re reading a draft ofnow you’re reading a draft of the American journalist’s story:the American journalist’s story: “The Third World slum is a“The Third World slum is a nightmare that defies beliefs ornightmare that defies beliefs or facts, even the ones staring rightfacts, even the ones staring right at you.”

The individual voices pile upThe individual voices pile up and before you know it, you’veand before you know it, you’ve stepped inside 20th-centurystepped inside 20th-century Jamaica, where rival gangsJamaica, where rival gangs compete for turf and power,compete for turf and power, where garbage piles up,where garbage piles up, electricity is spotty, andelectricity is spotty, and curfew is mandatory.curfew is mandatory.

It’s a symphonyof language, blood,brains, piss, music,death and dreams.

“A Brief Historyof Seven Killings”is James’ thirdbook. His first, “Johnbook. His first, “John Crow’s Devil” (2005),Crow’s Devil” (2005), tells the story of a

Jamaican village held hostageby a spiritual feud between twopreachers in the 1950s. “TheBook of Night Women” (2009),set on a Jamaican sugar planta-tion at the turn of the 19th cen-tury, won the Dayton LiteraryPeace Prize.

James thought “A Brief His-tory of Seven Killings” would bea noir novella, until a close friendset him straight.

“I kept writing more char-acters,” said the author, whoteaches at Macalaster College.“I kept dancing around the BobMarley event. And I hit a deadend. I said, ‘I don’t know whosestory this is.’ And my friend

Rachel said, ‘Why do youthink it’s one person’sstory?’ When was the lasttime you read ‘As I LayDying?’”

The 1970s Jamaicathat James describes inhis novel is teeming withcivil unrest. The con-servative Jamaica LaborParty clashes with the

communist-friendly People’sNational Party and endless turfbattles erupt on the street.

“This was a time when theaverage election had hundredsof people being killed,” Jamessays. “A huge body count. It wasa very tribalist kingdom. It wasstill about territory. Whoevercontrols this territory controlsKingston. Whoever intimidatesKingston intimidates Jamaica.”

James was just 6 years oldwhen thugs with guns busted into Marley’s home and started shooting. This was only two days before “the Singer” — as Mar-ley is called in the novel — was scheduled to appear at a massive free concert. Marley was injured in the attack, but he performed anyway. All that’s in the book.

James grew up in a Jamaican household where crime and poli-tics were discussed openly.

“Because Jamaica is small,” the author explained, “you can’t really escape it. And both my parents are police. My mom’s a detective. My dad left the force to become a lawyer. The joke in my

family is she locks them up, andhe takes them out.”

As a child, James also wit-nessed an explosion of Jamaicanculture.

“Jamaican arts, dance, litera-ture developed its own aesthet-ic,” the author says. “The thingabout reggae, it reclaimed patois,dialect.”

In some ways, James’ child-hood was an aggregation ofJamaican,British and

American culture.American TV was hugely

popular.“Growing up in the ’70s,” he

says, “you were raised by ‘Sesa-me Street,’ ‘The Muppet Show,’‘Charlie’s Angels,’ ‘Starsky andHutch.’ ”

At the same time, the Britishempire was ever-present. Al-though Jamaica gained indepen-dence from Britain in 1962, theisland’s education system in the1970s still groomed children to becolonial subjects of the queen.

“I can lay on the straight Ja-maican standard English,” Jameslaughs. “One aspect of it, we dropadverbs anywhere we want.”

He pauses, thinking of anexample: “Stop wastefully usingthe water,” he says.

One of the biggest influenceson “A Brief History of Seven Kill-ings,” was James Ellroy’s classiccrime novel, “American Tabloid”(1995).

“I wanted to know how to tella story in an expansive way butstill have it guided by voice andguided by people in the margins,”James explains. “The whole ideaof a great American novel is a lu-dicrous idea we have to get over,but if you were to blackmail me,I’d say it’s ‘American Tabloid.’”

James is on a “slight” writingbreak now, but he’s researchinghis next book. A fantasy.

“I love Thor and Zeus, butI’m kind of tired of Europeanmythology,” the author says. “I’mreading about Sub-Saharan my-thology and religion and history. The research is so crazy. Court

dramas, kings, princes, politi-cal intrigue — and mix that

with monsters and ogres and giants.”

Long story short, he quips, he’s look-

ing to write an African “Game of

Thrones.”

Author wraps Jamaican truthsin symphony of fictional voices

maggie.galehouse@

chron.com

Author Marlon James

MAGGIEGALEHOUSEBookish

Jeff

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Author appearanceAuthor appearanceMarlon James will appear withauthor Cristina Henríquez (“TheBook of Unknown Americans”) aspart of Inprint’s Margarett RootBrown Reading Series

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday

Where: Wortham Theater Center,501 Texas

Tickets: $5; inprinthouston.org

ZEST

xxx Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com | Sunday, May 10, 2015 | G5

ZEST

GEOFF Dyer’s writing iswidely, wildly omnivorous.

An Englishman wholives in Venice Beach, Calif.,Dyer has penned four

novels and several genre-defying bookson topics ranging from jazz to film totravel. His particular literary cocktail isa heady mix of innocence, observationand wit, offset by a bracing dash of self-deprecation.

“A tourist with a notebook,” he callshimself.

Dyer’s collection of essays,“Otherwise Known as the HumanCondition” (2011), won the NationalBook Critics Circle Award for Criticism.“Another Great Day at Sea” (2014), hislatest book, recounts two weeks hespent aboard a busy aircraft carrier withthe U.S. Navy. Dyer never says exactlywhere he was, but it’s a 40-minute flightfrom Bahrain.

Currently teaching at the MichenerCenter forWriters at the University ofTexas at Austin, Dyer, 56, appears inHouston onMonday as the final guest ofInprint’s 2014-15 Margarett Root BrownReading Series.

Q: By my reckoning, you werean outsider several times over onthe USS George H.W. Bush aircraftcarrier. You’re English. You’re acivilian. You’re in your 50s, which,as you note in the book, is old forthe people serving on the ship.And you’re tall, which means thethreat of bumping your head in apassageway was ever-present. Wasthis sort of compound otherness agood vantage point from which toreport?

A: I love feeling like I belong, andAmerica is famous for howmany peoplewant to belong here and how quicklythat process of assimilation occurs.Generally speaking, I knew I was goingto like being on the ship. It was a sortof concentration of America. I think it’shard to imagine the life these sailorsare leading, which is so completely theopposite of mine. My self-discipline isindistinguishable from self-indulgence.There are so many books of reportageabout journalists being embedded. My

book doesn’t merit being spoken ofin the same breath. In a sense, I wasadamant to avoid that sort of immersionreporting by refusing to share a room.For me, it was a highly unusual pleasurecruise.

Q: There are endless literaryreferences throughout, to AlbertCamus, William Cowper, W.H.Auden ... though my favoriteis a phrase that invokes JoanDidion: “I’d ended up feelingless conspicuous on the boat, notDidionly invisible but more at easeand confident around the people Iran into every day.”

A: Those writers are part of mycircuitry, part of my bloodstream really.They helped me make sense of what wasgoing on. The experience of looking ata great expanse of water is inherentlymeditative. Particularly striking is thehugeness of the ocean compared to theclaustrophobic atmosphere on the boat.

Q: At one point you meet withthe captain’s cook, whose previousexperience with journalists — shewas miffed when one article claimedshe was making baked halibut when,in fact, the halibut was fried— hasbeen unpleasant. You tell her: “Ifeel I have to say at the outset thatfacts are not my strong point ... Tobe perfectly honest, strong pointsare not my strong points.” So I haveto ask: As a writer, what are yourstrong points?

A:Many bits of my books are funny,but there’s also kind of a tendency to gointo the metaphysical aspect of things. Aquasi-philosophic thing. I would neverwant to be described as a comic writer.It’s so limiting. I hope my humor in noway cauterizes my ability to find thingsmoving. There were so many people Icame across on the carrier who were soadmirable, even if I was at ideologicalloggerheads with them.

Q: And you also came away with aprofound respect for what we mightcall a military “attitude.”

A: In the military, you’ve just gotto suck it up. It’s raining and you’resoaking wet? You still have to do yourjob. Your best friend had his arms blownoff? You’ve still got to do it. I have reallybecome a believer in the idea of suckingit up.

Geoff Dyer finds inspiration at seaREVIEW

maggie.galehouse@chron.com

ByMaggie Galehouse

Matt Stuart

Geoff Dyer

‘Another Great Day at Sea’By Geoff Dyer.

Knopf Doubleday, 208 pp.,$15.95 paperback.

Author appearanceGeoff Dyer will appear as part of the

Margarett Root Brown Reading Series,7:30 p.m. Monday, Wortham Theater

Center, 500 Texas. $5 general admission.Doors open 6:45 p.m. Information:

inprinthouston.org.

Writer gains appreciationfor the military whileworking on latest novel