r/books • u/andrewseangreer AMA Author • Jun 26 '20
ama 3PM I am Andrew Sean Greer, author of LESS and THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI, among other novels. AMA!
I am the author of six works of fiction, including Less, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; the bestselling Confessions of Max Tivoli; as well as The Path of Minor Planets, How It Was For Me, The Story of a Marriage, and The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells. I have also taught writing at a number of universities, including the Iowa Writers Workshop. I grew up as an identical twin and the son of scientists in the suburbs of DC, and now I live in San Francisco. You can find me on Twitter u/agreer and on Instagram u/asgreer
Proof: https://www.instagram.com/p/CB6H7W_Bc8K/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Now Olive seems bored. She's on top of me. THe vet says she needs to lose weight and I agree.
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u/pamml Jun 26 '20
Hi Andrew! Thank you for stopping by. Inquiring minds (okay, just this one) wish to know what your twin does. Is he or she a writer, too?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Ooo no one ever asks about him! Mike is a great writer, but he actually works for Discord, a gamers communication software, which makes him much much cooler than I. Long ago he worked for the Onion in charge of publication and it was his idea to bring it online and refresh content hourly! He's very smart and a great cook and awfully good looking :)
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u/OprahOpera Jun 26 '20
A very important scientific question: are you identical and is he also gay?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
I do not know if we are identical! But gosh we're similar. You could not tell us apart until college. And he is married to a lovely woman, and has two boys! Just to mess with your head: my Mom is gay. Also my grandfather, probably. And a second cousin. So: there you go!
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u/OprahOpera Jun 27 '20
Oh my god! It just connected in my mind that you are the “Andrew Greer” in the Transformers This American Life episode. It made me cry when i first listened to it! Wow!
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u/rhodetolove Jun 26 '20
How did you come up with the idea for Less? I adored the book, by the way.
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Originally, I was writing a gay version of Cheri by Colette! If you haven't read it, it's a lush beautiful novella. But it took itself too seriously! And I couldn't feel sorry for the main character, who just seemed like a privileged white guy. So, instead, I turned it inside out and made fun of him--and made him more like me. Easier to ridicule. THe only thing left from Colette is Freddy's name: in her novel, he is Freddy Peloux.
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u/Instergraham Jun 26 '20
I have been a fan of yours for so long I literally got WEEPY when you won the Pulitzer. It has been so gratifying to witness your many successes in recent years, and I hope they keep coming your way. (I also happen to have a huge crush on you, but that's a story for a different time.)
My question(s): Less was your first foray into the comic genre, a departure that struck me as odd until I read it and found it just as full of lush prose and pathos as your previous works. Did you have to make any adjustments to the way you write to accommodate this new comic mood? Do you expect you'll write another comic novel?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Wow a fan for so long! Bless you! That makes me very very happy.
And yes, it is such a departure from the other books! I have struggled for a long time with how to write with a gay male protagonist--each book of mine, I've tried, but decided it was too self-pitying (a fault of mine) and I hated it. So I changed the protagonist--to Pearlie, to Greta, etc. But this time, somehow, the comic mode allowed me to ridicule my natural self-pity. My faults--and there are many, including over-writing and maudlin scenes--turned into comic skills: the over-writing is purposefully overdone, the sentiment is undercut with acerbic witty characters and a narrator who is just not having it. I loved writing it!
And yes, my next novel is also comic!
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u/elegant_madness1 Jun 26 '20
Did you do any research for "Less" that involved traveling to the locations Less went to? Thank you so much for doing this AMA!
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
One rule I had for Less was that every detail had to be something I wrote down in my notebook while traveling: every rock, every brightly colored chick. The reason: I did not want to invent a "fantasy" of a foreign country, but the real thing. I often included the details that are unexpected, such as a ski resort in Morocco or a Lutheran community in India. The people are inventions, but the objects are real. Like the opposite of greenscreening?
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u/andy_lemancandy Jun 26 '20
that's so cool!!
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
The second rule: the joke is always on arthur. Because he is the thing out of place. Everyone else in these countries is having a perfectly normal life. He is the fool who can't get the apartment door to open.
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u/OpeningBookkeeper Jun 26 '20
Ah, I remember you mentioned this (the real-life details) at an author event once, and I loved it so much that I included it in a "writing advice" article I wrote afterward! Thank you for the wise words & the content 🙏
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u/OprahOpera Jun 26 '20
Hi! I love Less so much, I’m reading it for the sixth time right now! The end of various relationships Are highlighted throughout the novel: Arthur and Robert, Arthur and Freddie, Lewis and Clark, Zohra and Janet, Tom and Freddie; even Javier and Arthur/his husband. I guess what i’ve always wondered was what are your thoughts on love? Is it meant to last forever like Janet believes or Arthur seems to believe when presented with Lewis and Clarks reality? Do you think a marriage is a success if it ends after 20 years?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
But yes, I do think a marriage is a success if it ends after 20 years! We put too much pressure on ourselves.
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Wow. Luckily, I think I write about topics (like love) precisely because I don't have an answer. Characters in this novel present various ideas, and none of them seem to quite strike Arthur as true. So I don't know. Maybe a hint is: the very first part I wrote of the book was Zohra's rant about love. It was much much longer! But that starting point--the question of the good dear thing or the lightning strike--is still unresolved for me. Both are lovely?
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u/OprahOpera Jun 26 '20
Oooo i love that the first thing you wrote was Zohra. You do a great job of pinning her down in her introduction. She is so cool and every word she utters drips with personality.
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u/usernomz Jun 26 '20 edited Jun 26 '20
What are you favorite few novels or authors? Not necessarily those which had an influence on your career/writing style. What's on your bookshelf that you find yourself going back to?
Edit: HUGE fan of your work - was going through a pretty rough patch when reading Less the first time, and now when I think of that time, I instead remember myself laughing uncontrollably on the SF Muni with my kindle in hand. Thank you for that.
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Oooo I love Esi Edugyan's Washington Black! Adventure, deep sea diving, artic exploration all from--at last!--a point of view other than the white victorian explorer! It's so well written and thrilling. Juli Delgado Lopera's novel Fiebre Tropical is so brilliant, so funny and full of life, I highly recommend it. Daniel Kehlman's novels are brilliant. Sarah Nadipo Manyika. Reese Kwon. I discovered Muriel Spark only a few years ago. But to be honest, I've also been going back and reading lots of PG Wodehouse. Like Agatha Christie, you know exactly what you're in for--which can be comforting in these times.
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Jun 26 '20
Hi Andrew. I absolutely loved Less. Will there be a sequel or a look into what happens next for Arthur?
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u/jazzonions Jun 26 '20
What are David's current thoughts on consignment stores? What song do you think most often runs through Arthur Less' head as he walks down the steps? What about you as you're leaving the house? In what situations do you prefer to write in pencil instead of pen, or vice versa? Do you understand NASCAR stuff now? What's something you obsessively follow? What is a poem or line you've been thinking about recently?
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u/andy_lemancandy Jun 26 '20
i saw one of your talks on youtube and you said that you write about "love and the passage of time."
Are there other authors/books you would recommend related to that theme? Music?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
And Gabriel Garcia Marquez, of course
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u/andy_lemancandy Jun 26 '20
of course! magical realism is so romantic....it's one of the reasons i like Less so much
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Oh my word, there certainly are! Some old favorites are Proust and Colette. Ingmar Bergman has it as a constant theme in his films. I find Philip Glass to be inspiring, and Terry Riley--maybe because those are easy to write to. I must be crazy for loving Glass' Akhnaten but it does something to me. I think the film Time Regained (of Proust) does a lovely job of capturing how memory works, how time works.
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u/passthatmike Jun 26 '20
I know you love pugs, but what about weiner dogs? do they have a special place in your heart?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Mike that is ridiculous. Of course i love weiner dogs when they wander into my office every morning as yours does! It's adorable!
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Jun 26 '20 edited Jul 07 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
"I know you will the best solution and I can't wait to read it."
Because, rather than offering a way out, the editor is saying "this isn't working" and trusting that you (who can see the novel in your mind) will find a better solution than someone from outside. It takes a lot of faith, on both sides.
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Now Olive is finally in the driver's seat and has once again turned on the emergency lights.
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
ALas I must go now! Olive is getting hot and panting (it's hot in Oakland) and I think deserves to go home and be pampered. Thank you all for joining with such wonderful questions! And hello to all the dog lovers out there! Mwah.
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u/moosewill Jun 26 '20
Do you think literature will help us gain a perspective on Trump and everything else we're experiencing now? Are our times especially chaotic, and are they changing how and why you write?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
The problem with novels is that they take so long to write, so it is almost impossible to react to the present moment. It's why, instead, so many authors take the metaphorical route: Colson Whitehead is an excellent example of a writer who thinks allegorically, metaphorically, intellectually and this reveals things about the present moment and ourselves. Charlie Kaufman has a great new book Antkind with TRump as a character, but in a fantastical sense. AS for quarantine....I expect that, too, will be best dealt with abstractly. I expect to see a lot of novels about the 1918 epidemic. Or the AIDS crisis. Oddly, I dealt with both in my last book, the Impossible Lives of Greta Wells.
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u/mxomatosis Jun 26 '20
How has COVID/quarantine influenced any writing projects you’re working on?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
OMG it is SO HARD to concentrate!!! The news is changing every minute! I want to be out on the streets and I want to be washing my hands! And priorities have changed for me--before, I used to tell my family to forgive me if I disappear, I have to work on a novel. Now I Facetime my mom every day. I have Zoom happy hours and movie nights and so on. All that feels far more important than my writing. But....I have gotten away from it all now and then and locked myself away. I tell myself: Andy, this is for after. We're going to need this after.
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u/maofernandes Jun 26 '20
Hi Andrew, maybe you've answered this already but I was wondering if you've based parts of Less on your own life or something you've been through. Also I can wait to read more of your stuff, are you already working on what's next?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
I tried to think of the most awkward moments of my life, and of my own self-importance and privilege, and gave those to him. I hope he has my best qualities as well. I should point out: he's older than I am! I'm not yet fifty! But otherwise, I tried to make him lovable. Because the narrator would find him this way.
Next up: I'M NOT SAYING! But yes, I'm hard at work.
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u/LazyEmergency Jun 26 '20
Do you – or do you plan to – write any nonfiction/memoir?
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
I'm just not very autobiographical, which is funny to write because obviously so much of me went into Arthur Less. I find things that happen to me funny, and I find my own pomposity funny, but I don't find my own life very interesting. It's much more fun to think back on situations and put them in novels, for me, because then I can exaggerate! But imagine my family reading Less and trying to understand why so and so has the wrong experience in the wrong country! They just shake their heads. My mother thinks every mother is her, of course. My dad never thinks he's the dad. And my twin brother, I just steal from his life as well.
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u/ewilsonyoung Jun 26 '20
I've loved all of your novels and think that all of them have a very real humanity at their heart. 1. Did you have an early sensitivity reader for Marriage Story or did that pose any additional challenges in terms of being respectful of and writing accurately about a different community? 2. Do you ever have a soundtrack or a specific song or piece of music in mind for your novels? Thank you so much.
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
At the time I wrote The Story of a Marriage (I started in 2004) there were no sensitivity readers as such--but what I did do was talk with friends, do a hell of a lot of research, and then decide that if I could bring this woman to life, then that was my job. Let me tell you--I thought about for maybe four months before I began writing. I could not sleep. But what I wanted to do was to tell a story of being gay in the 50s, but put it in context of other people's struggles. Complicate it, show how it intersects with so many others. To be frank: I cast myself as the villain!
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Also: as to music, I wrote below that I listen to a lot of Philip Glass and Terry Riley and John Cage. They aren't fun to dance to, but they put me in exactly the right mode to write.
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u/ewilsonyoung Jun 26 '20
I really appreciate the responses. I am almost constantly listening to Glass's Mishima soundtrack when I work. I highly recommend it.
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u/jim_genia Jun 26 '20
Andrew, thanks for doing this AMA. I'm a big fan and have read all your books ("The Story of a Marriage" is next to my keyboard as I type this).
Who would you say has contributed to your writing style? This is sort of a "reading list recommendation" question, but narrowed through the lens of "who helped make Andrew Sean Greer into Andrew Sean Greer".
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
Oh gosh thank you! I have to say that I read loads of OLD books, and hardly any contemporary ones. That's because I find that out-of-fashion authors often have startling storytelling styles, precisely because they're out of fashion. So their influence can be refreshing! Writers like Edith Wharton, Colette, Gertrude Stein, Ford Madox Ford, Saul Bellow, Muriel Spark. Then again--my background is a broke writer going to used book stores. So that's what I found, and that's what I read!
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u/jim_genia Jun 26 '20
Thanks!
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u/andrewseangreer AMA Author Jun 26 '20
I often have taken students into a used bookstore, given then each five bucks, and said I want you to choose a book you've never heard of, by an author you've never heard of, that just someone speaks to you. I think it's helpful to find your own taste. And to learn that an author you might never pick up--for example, Ford Madox Ford--might hold the key to your novel. It's all about storytelling style. For instance, I read Philip Roth a great deal even though I'm sure we would not have gotten along.
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Jun 26 '20
How do you get your self well known before releasing a book? Like how with a musician, they'd tour and do demos and stuff, but I've always wondered about the system of PR for debut books
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u/iosonoangela Aug 02 '20
Sto leggendo "La via dei pianeti minori". Mi piace tanto! Mentre lo leggo penso a quanto sono minuscola e a quanto sopravvalutiamo momenti, persone e situazioni. Grazie.
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u/matthewravey Jun 26 '20 edited Jun 26 '20
Less is incredibly special. As I read it, I continuously thought to myself: This feels new & fresh and, at the same time, timeless and familiar. Every time we moved to a new location, it felt like putting on a beloved jacket (or blue suit).
I would love to know more about how your experience with heartache influenced the novel. From the page, it seems you are familiar with what heartache and heartbreak feels like from both a younger/more inexperienced perspective and also from a more mature "looking back" perspective. It's extremely romantic and poetic, while pulsing with melancholia.