Ask the Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Answered Questions (11)
Curtis Sittenfeld
This is a fascinating question that I've never consciously considered. I actually think that asking a writer about her own work in terms of its themes is a bit like asking someone to describe her own personality--she is the least credible source. So I will leave it to others to try to answer this, though I will continue to think about it.
Curtis Sittenfeld
The short answer is not if I could help it. The longer answer is that it would depend on many circumstances, including whether she wanted to go and why, what her local school options were, and what the specific boarding school offered. I'm not trying to give advice about how other people should raise their children, but I'd be very reluctant personally.
Curtis Sittenfeld
I actually HAVE thought of writing middle grade or YA lit, though nothing is official yet. I don't think the skill sets are exactly the same and I don't want to be presumptuous, but I am definitely open to this in the future.
Curtis Sittenfeld
Ha! I once went on a date to an extremely brightly-lit restaurant, so brightly-lit that I knew from the moment we entered nothing good could come of it. And I was right. The poor person on the date with me was a nice guy, however.
Curtis Sittenfeld
What a nice thing to say! I aspire to be amazingly decent, but I definitely don't always succeed. I actually think many of my characters are even more flawed than I am, however, because I personally don't find people who aren't flawed to be very interesting. It turns out not all readers agree--some readers clearly look for characters to be moral paragons--but luckily, there are plenty of kinds of books for plenty of kinds of readers.
Curtis Sittenfeld
I think I'm a writer partly because I have a big (overactive?) imagination--I don't doubt that I have more ideas than I'll ever have time to write about. To write an entire novel, I have to be obsessed with an idea--to find it fascinating and feel confident my fascination will last a few years. I do create outlines, though they're subject to change as I move forward.
Curtis Sittenfeld
Oh, Goodreads, I love when you flirt with me like this!
Curtis Sittenfeld
I really loved Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett. And, on a lighter note (though it contains some pretty profound insights), I loved Bossypants Tina Fey. Two books of non-fiction I quite enjoyed last fall were Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Bettyville by George Hodgman.
Curtis Sittenfeld
I'm currently reading the first draft of my friend Susanna Daniel's third novel, and it's pretty riveting! Since it's not available to buy yet, I'd recommend her second novel, Sea Creatures. I also have been thanked by many people for recommending Euphoria by Lily King. And I'm a huge fan of Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet.
Curtis Sittenfeld
I hope your time at Groton was positive! Just kidding. I'm not sure that I made or lost any friends over Prep. I know that some boarding school graduates loved it and some hated it, which actually doesn't distinguish it from most novels.
Curtis Sittenfeld
I first read P&P as a high school junior. I loved its humor, excellent character development, and swoony romance(s). I still love it, though re-reading it as I worked on Eligible did make me think about it in a more analytical way--how it's constructed, what technical choices Austen made (about revealing pieces of information, etc.)--rather than just losing myself in it as a reader.
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