Julia

Julia asked Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney:

What are the things (writers, books, songs, tv shows, etc) influenced you the most when writing the book?

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney Hi, Julia. Sorry for the delay! The list of things that influenced me is very, very long and some of it would only make sense to me. I read a lot of family novels written in multiple points of view, like The Corrections, Remember Me Like This and The Middlesteins to see how those authors moved the plot along while using different voices. When first conceiving the book, I was influenced by one of my favorite short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, "Some Other, Better Otto." And I read a lot of non-fiction for research, a book of essays written by gay men who lived near Christopher in the 80s, books on amputation, Michael Lewis's The Big Short about mortgage-backed securities, American Ground by William Langewiesche about the clean-up and the World Trade Center site--to name a few. I also watched documentaries on some of those subjects. Hope this answers your questions and thanks for asking.

More Answered Questions

Karen

Karen asked Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney:

I thoroughly enjoyed your novel, and I look forward to the next! How did you decide to write about this topic? It certainly is universal and with interesting characters.

A Goodreads user

A Goodreads user asked Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney:

I just finished your book and I thought it was amazing! It read easy and I liked the characters, even if they all had some flaws. I also loved the ending, because of what Leo did the family grew closer in a way and he is missing out on it all. My questions is it hasn't already been answered; where did you come up with the idea and will we see this family again in future books?

Leslie

Leslie asked Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney:

I enjoyed your debut novel, 3 stars out of 5. I found your novel to be well-written. I enjoyed your style of writing; it reminds me of a Canadian Author; Linden McIntyre, ``The Bishops Man``. The dysfunctional family you write about is very real. The character I liked the most was Stephaine. Will there be a sequel to this novel?

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Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

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