Anjali’s Comments (group member since Feb 06, 2011)

Anjali’s comments from the Q&A with Adam Haslett group.

Thanks! Got to say: you were probably my favorite contemporary writer before this online forum, and now you definitely are.

Thank you for responding! It's great to read such thorough answers. (I didn't mean for my question about the political scope to come off as brash by the way.)

My favorite story of yours is "The Beginnings of Grief." For me especially, I felt like there was a lot of opposing forces you brought together well. It's difficult for me to articulate exactly what they are, perhaps the inertia of grief and the aggression of sexual love or something of the like. Whenever I've read other stories on grief, they tend to focus on the passivity of it and the unfolding of the story often mirrors that. I read your previous response to another Goodreads member, but could you speak more to the writing of that story and what you were trying to explore? Have there been dualities that you consciously aimed to express in either that collection or "Union Atlantic"?

I also really enjoyed your short story in New York Magazine. How did you fashion Obama's interior life? I always remember him referring to others' perceptions of himself as something of a Roscharch test, but you seemed to hone in on such details as "the organizing principle of Michelle" that I've had trouble defining myself.

And I have to ask: do you have a favorite "Wire" character?

I enjoyed your FiveBooks recommendations and was wondering if you could list your favorite books. I'm particularly interested in what classic fictional literature, recent contemporary literature, and nonfiction works you enjoy.

I'm also curious about the political scope of "Union Atlantic." I've read in interviews that you specialize in tax law, and you seem to understand the workings of the institutions you write about very well, but you didn't really address the reverberations of the fictional financial crisis you described beyond the financial world. Is there a specific reason for that? (Dictated by the story? etc.) Could you talk about your reaction to the 2008 financial crisis? Could you also suggest any books or other media (ie. "The Wire") that give portrayals of interlocking political/social/economic life from micro to macro that you find realistic?