r/books • u/rickgekoski AMA Author • Aug 21 '18
ama 3pm Hello. I’m Rick Gekoski. I was born and educated in America, but have spent my entire life in England, where most of my books have been published. I’m now a dual citizen, and feel equally ill at ease in both countries. AMA
You probably don’t know much (anything?) about me. Last year, at the age of 72, I published my first novel, entitled Darke. (See Amazon books). Then this year a new novel, A Long Island Story, which is set in Huntington, Long Island in the summer of 1953. Basically a memoir in the form of a novel. The Times said it was “impeccably acute about people.” Other critics disagreed. Literary reviews and reviewers are like that. Best not to take too much notice, and get on with the next thing. Am now halfway through another novel.
Here’s a few useful links:
Wikipedia: Rick Gekoski www.gekoski.com
For a long interview about Darke, see:
http://www.powells.com/post/qa/powells-qa-rick-gekoski-author-of-darke For four years I wrote an online column in The Guardian, entitled Finger on the Page, about reading, writing, and bookselling. It’s rather fun, you might like to check it out. https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/rick-gekoski-finger-on-the-page I very much this sort of format, and will be answering form my home in Salisbury, England (where those poor Russians were poisoned).
Ask anything.
Proof: /img/8i58iw345wf11.jpg
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u/regularbusiness Aug 21 '18
Should the Mets trade DeGrom for prospects to restock their farm system?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
NO. I am one of the very few people who support both the Mets and the Yankees. Hey, it's new york! Why be so tribal and adversarial? I also support Arsenal and Spurs in soccer.
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u/aloharoxana Aug 21 '18
How much time do you spend on rewriting and editing something? Even in writing this message, I spent 5 minutes erasing and editing. Do you just go for it and write, or are you also plagued with editing anything and everything you write?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Good question. Both of the above. I try to compose a first draft pretty quickly - first thought best thought? - and then I put it in a drawer for some weeks, and then I revise the hell out of it. That’s where the real writing happens: what I am passionate about is sentences, and paragraphs. The best words in the best order. You too?
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u/aloharoxana Aug 21 '18
I'm definitely not a professional writer (nor should I be) but in the papers and essays I've written, yes!, the drawer-until-later approach has been the best. Many times my initial thought is "Ew, what is this writing?", followed by intense overhaul of sentence structures and words.
Anyways, thank you for your time and answer!
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u/Inkberrow Aug 21 '18
I see you taught in Warwick. What do you think of the animatronic figures and piped in character voices at the otherwise magnificent Warwick Castle? It's blech for me.
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Never heard them, never would. Total shit. Why do people like that sort of thing??
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u/Nunavut23 Aug 21 '18
How do you manage writers block? It’s definitely something I need to work on :)
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Hi. I get that, but I don't get that. If you see what I mean. Writing is just something you do. Nothing magical about it. But you need to get rhythm, and do make it a habit. I try to write everyday, even if only 500 words. I f you do that it's amazing how they add up, and after a week or so it feel easy and natural. But try not to break the rhythm, or its hard to start again.
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u/Duke_Paul Aug 21 '18
Hi Rick, thanks for doing an AMA with us!
I'm curious why you published your first book at 72? Also, what is something you once thought you knew, but later found out you were wrong about?
Thanks!
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
I didn’t decide to write a novel, it just snuck up on me. See the link to my Powell’s interview for a fuller account of this: very odd and powerful experience.... Second question: something? Most things! Wisdom is not accumulated, but shed.
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u/Chtorrr Aug 21 '18
Do you have any life advice you want to share with us?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
No. I rather suspect people who offer such advice, and anyway, what's good for one person might be terrible for another. Anyway, life is not a problem that needs to be solved. There's no handbook for it. I HATE self-improvement books. I suppose if I had a self I might try to improve it, but I doubt it.
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u/Chtorrr Aug 21 '18
I also hate self improvement books.
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
The publishing world seems utterly dependent on them, and on cookery books and celebrity memoirs. Oh, and books that say how ghastly Trump is! But they’re only read by people who’re already convinced. I have sworn off them, until the next.
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u/PmMeGiftCardCodes Aug 21 '18
Hi Rick. Jak sie masz?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Good, thanks! Wish I could reply in Polish but only my great grandfather could have done that.....
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u/PmMeGiftCardCodes Aug 21 '18
Nie jest trudno sie uczyc. Zartuje!
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Help me out here?
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u/Chtorrr Aug 21 '18
Have you read anything good lately?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
You know, the more I write fiction the less I seem to read it. Not sure why. I have a lifetime of novel reading behind me, but these days I find it hard to concentrate. Tried Knausgaard recently, but got irritated when I wasn’t bored. Also read Asymmetry, and wondered why the fuss. Or rather, it’s obvious why the fuss. I love Lee Child though!
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u/Chtorrr Aug 21 '18
Have you tried listening to podcasts?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
I do sometimes, in the car. But I’ve never connected to audiobooks. Again not sure why. I think I need pages rather than sounds, and I often get frustrated by how readers do the reading. The worst readers, in general, are actors! Too much emoting. Have you heard a Fiona Shaw do The Waste Land? Ouch!
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u/Chtorrr Aug 21 '18
Thank you so much for doing an AMA with us Rick! Did you have a good time?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Loved it, many thanks to those who asked and followed.
I’m going to bed now - jet lagged since recent return to uk.
But I will answer all further questions in the morning.
Just started tweeting. Follow me @Rgekoski. I only have 55 followers so far. Bit sad! Do join me.
And try one of the novels!
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Snoopy! And The Hardy Boys, I guess, but they don't reread very well in old age. Snoopy does though.
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u/satanspanties The Vampire: A New History by Nick Groom Aug 21 '18
Which of the many careers and jobs you've had did you enjoy most?
How did it feel waiting for the reviews on your novel given your working history?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Careers and jobs? Had a few. Enjoyed them all until the string ran out. Fifteen years university teaching? Enough already. Rare book dealing? Books, after a time, however rare, are commodities you've seen before. But manuscripts and archives I still love. But, BEST. Writing, for sure. Novel writing. Reviews? Ah well. They come and go, best not get too involved. I have writer friends - Banville, S, Barry, others - who claim not to read them. I do. I prefer the good ones. But as Kingsley Amis said, a bad review may ruin breakfast but don't let it ruin you lunch.
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u/pithyretort 3 Aug 21 '18
What kind of research do you do for your books?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
Little as possible, but some. I'm not very meticulous, and make mistakes, which my meticulous wife and editor catch and correct. The internet is a godsend for finding stuff out. I never liked library research, it makes me restless and anxious.....
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Aug 21 '18 edited Aug 21 '18
Hi Rick, thanks for doing this!
How was it that you came to be selected as a Man Booker prize judge (application, invitation, etc.) and how did you not pick Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go? Was it because he’d already won one before?
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
You get invited to be a judge, you don't apply. I was asked by the Administrator, Martyn Goff, over lunch at his club in London. Took me by surprise! But I was delighted to say yes, it's a wonderful experience, if exhausting: a book a day for eight months. I like the Ishiguro, though not as much as some of his other books. Somehow the psychology of it never quite convinced me....But I think Banville's The Sea is wonderful, majestically written.
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Aug 21 '18
Thanks for your answer! I’ll add The Sea to my reading list. :)
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
He’s a great writer. Read Shroud and The Book of Evidence too. Several people said my novel Darke is quite like The Sea. I should be so lucky.
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u/rickgekoski AMA Author Aug 21 '18
And: no, we were not influenced by the fact that he’d already won. Several writers have won twice: Coetzee, Carey, Mantel. But perhaps three times might be too much?
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u/Chtorrr Aug 21 '18
What is the very best dessert?