"...it's a way in which we maintain our individualism..."
—Eric Felten
Eric Felten is a soft-spoken enthusiast, a contrast that is in perfect keeping with his book 'Loyalty.' On one hand, he's explored the subject of loyalty in depth. This is a very intense and thoughtful book, but it is not the sort of brain-twisting treatise one might expect. Instead, Felten has carved out a very interesting and entertaining book that lets the reader do the thinking while Felten does the writing.
Felten talked to me about his book, and we explored many of the themes and topics he brings up. In doing so, we brought a sort of new light to the book, just as any reader will. The beauty of Felten's writing is that he takes you up to the cusp of the theoretical, arms you with all the examples you need and lets you, the reader, draw the conclusions.
I can imagine that just about any interview with this writer would be both different and fascinating by virtue of the fact that every reader's perceptions of the examples is going to be slightly different — depending on their own experience.
05-11-11:Terry Bisson, Peter S. Beagle and Michael Blumlein at SF in SF on April 16, 2011
"I disagree—" —Terry Bisson
"Good..." —Peter S. Beagle
"—that it's all about story..." —Terry Bisson
Disagreements are good —
and common —
at SF in SF during the panel discussions moderated by Terry Bisson. That was certainly and literally on display in the panel discussion that followed the readings by Michael Blumlein and Peter S. Beagle on April 16, 2011. And the audience had quite a bit to say as well.
The discussion went all over the map, led by Bisson, but with lots of audience interaction. There are more people showing up for this great monthly event as time goes by, and they're not shy. Of course neither are the authors. That's what makes this event so interesting. The interaction is unpredictable, the authors even more so.
Ann Packer called me from her car shortly before we spoke upstairs at Bookshop Santa Cruz, letting me know that traffic coming over Highway 17 had been challenging and that she might be late. It's precisely the kind of event that might happen in one of her stories, a little hitch in the works that ripples through the events that follow. That this was not the case — I just had a few extra minutes to get things in line —
made it even more like something from her stories.
Packer brought with her an air of authority as we sat down to talk upstairs about her latest collection of stories, 'Swim Back to Me.' In this collection, she writes about the world that she lives in, and she comfortable both with her writing and that world. The stories are carefully crafted. She and I talked about her writing group, and she said something about writing groups that is probably the smartest thing I've ever heard. She told me that her writing group doesn't so much tell her what to do as it tells her what she has done.
And here's why I like Packer as an interview and a writer. That comment works on two levels. It lets readers know that she understands the reading experience, and writes to that experience. And within the context of the interview it performs the exact same function; she knows what readers want to hear about her writing process and she offers that up in quietly precise repartee.
She did tell me that she's at work on a new novel, but we're not to hold our breaths. While I'd love to plunge into her next full-length excursion sooner rather than later, the real beauty of her work is that it can easily re-read. I might suggest that readers pick up the book and read the stories now, before they listen to the interview. Then, when you've had a chance to enjoy the lives she lets you lead, come back, follow this link to the MP3 audio file and listen to what she has to say about them. The next time you read them —
and you will read them again —
you'll lead yet another life.
New to the Agony Column
05-16-12: Commentary : Mark Sundeen Pays Out 'The Man Who Quit Money' : Over the Edges
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Interview with Mark Sundeen and Daniel Suelo : "What would happen if we actually practiced this stuff?"-Daniel Suelo
05-15-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War' : Impure Life
05-08-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat' : Reading in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Mark Sundeen : "...over the years, I had heard through my friends that he had stopped using money and was living in a cave..."
04-30-12: Commentary : Christopher Moore Follows 'Sacré Bleu' : A Story in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Christopher Moore : "...it often isn't efficient to tell a story in chronological order..."
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
04-18-12: Commentary : Gregg Jones Stirs Through 'Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dreams' : A Dream Of Today From Yesterday
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Gregg Jones : "The Philippinos would welcome us with open arms and greet us as liberators."
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."
