Interview with John Andrew Fredrick, author of The King of Good Intentions III
The King of Good Intentions III is lyrical, heartbreaking, discursive/digressive, startlingly as poetic as it is laugh aloud funny…
Title: The King of Good Intentions III
Author: John Andrew Fredrick
Publisher: Embers Art Press
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
Pages: 457
Genre: Fiction/General Fiction/Humorous/Black Humor
As The Weird Sisters return from their first What-Could-Go-Wrong (spoileralert – everything) National Tour, bandmates/lovers John and Jenny facetheir iffy futures together (or apart) as the brilliant and mysteriousKatie upends the romantic/artistic balance that’s beenprecarious-at-best. The unmitigated vanity, the mythopoeic beauty, themegalomania and heartbreak, the exquisite talent and ludicrous hubris –it’s all here in Fredrick’s wonderful, tart-sweet, final installment.
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Welcome to TheWriter's Life! Now that your book has been published, How did you come up withthe idea to write your book, The King of Good Intentions III?
Well, as the Kingis a set of novels, a series, it was incumbent upon me to see the storythrough, as it were, and make it come full circle--to the beginning of thefirst TheKing of Good Intentions. For the most part, I write in orderto make myself laugh aloud. It's like what Robert Smith of The Cure saidabout writing songs: that he makes something in order to havesomething to listen to! That's my very purport when it comes tosongwriting as well.
To describeyour series, people call it "rollicking," "uproarious," and"zany." Is that a correct set of words to describe your book?
It is a comedy,after all. Notwithstanding the fact that there are some quite sad andtender moments sprinkled throughout the text. The writers I mostadmire--Nabokov, Amis, Stella Gibbons--all have a wonderful knack for embracingthe absurd.
How hard wasit to write a book like this?
Not verydifficult in that writing fiction's kind of like trying to master asport: the more you do it, the easier and more fun it gets. I havewritten seven novels now, five published; and I started my first one when I wasfourteen or so.
What’s onefact about your book that would surprise people?
That it's filledwith jeux d'esprit. That it plays games with the reader's sense of what'sreal and what's a put-on. The mere fact that my narrator's are oftencalled "John" is a sort of feint or ruse, for sure. Justbecause we share the same first name and are described as tall, blonde,hilarious, and devastatingly charming and handsome, don't think that he's me!
Is there amessage that are you trying to get across with your book?
Hard toencapsulate in a single phrase or message, really, but I will try: it'sthat the world of indie rock is as heartbreaking as it is enthralling attimes. And that Los Angeles is, paradoxically, the most ridiculous andmost wondrous place in the USA.
About the Author
John Andrew Fredrick isthe author of five novels and one book on the early films of WesAnderson. He is the principal songwriter/singer of an indie rock bandcalled The Black Watch that has released twenty-two albums toconsiderable acclaim. As Popmatters.com has observed, he is anaccomplished painter. His poems have appeared in The Los Angeles Press,Santa Barbara Magazine, and Artillery, among others. He lives in LosAngeles and London. Visit him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/john.a.fredrick and Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/177676792-the-king-of-good-intentions-part-three.
