"It turned out that for years, stuff was just based on wives' tales." — David Grann
David Grann makes reality as interesting, as involving, as fiction. That's no small accomplishment. As I was talking to him about his short story collection collection of non-fiction articles 'The Devil and Sherlock Holmes,' I literally had to keep reminding myself that it was non-fiction; articles, not short stories.
That's because Grann writes about what he knows, in a most particularly inclusive manner — obsession. Grann himself is an obsessive, and that key gets him into the minds and experiences of a wide variety of people. Plus, he just happens to write non-fiction with the grace and beauty, to my mind, the style of a fiction writer. Of course everything is documented, but the result of his "fictional" feel is that his work seem more alive, more there than most non-fiction.
As I read Grann's latest book, I picked it apart as if it were a collection of short stories, with common themes, common tropes and approaches to his material. Grann knows how to write himself into and out of a story, the precise amount of Doctor Watson, shall we say to provide the perspective on the adventures of his actual Sherlock Holmes.
Grann was there in that boat all night, on the verge of puking, hoping to help catch a baby giant squid, and he spent quality time with the human chameleon. He works through the scene of what may have been a crime, and the inconclusive nature of what he finds feels both more realistic than a work of fiction yet has the feel of the best fiction where readers are left to draw their own conclusions.
This time around, I interviewed Grann in his hotel as he swung through San Francisco. It was a relaxed and easy interview. We talked about the themes of his book without spending too much time of the plots of his stories. As I said, Grann brings the skills of a fiction writer to his non-fiction. You can join us in San Francisco by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
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04-30-12: Commentary : Christopher Moore Follows 'Sacré Bleu' : A Story in Color
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04-27-12: Commentary : Lisa Lutz on 'Trail of the Spellmans' : Meta-Fiction is Fun
Agony Column Podcast News Report: SF in SF from February 11, 2012 : Panel Discussion Moderated by Terry Bisson and Interviews with Rudy Rucker, K. W. Jeter, and Jay Lake
04-26-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Emmanuel Carrere 'The Adversary' : The Enemy Within
04-23-12: Commentary : T. M. Luhrman Listens 'When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God' : Science and the Supernaturaly
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04-17-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Caleb Carr 'The Alienist' : Subterranean History
04-16-12: Commentary : Richard Zacks Visits 'Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York' :The Wild, Wild East
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Richard Zacks : "Roosevelt and Riis were out looking, and if they did find a cop, he was talking to a streetwalker."
