First,
I read and admired Sue
William Silverman's
work. Then I listened to, and learned from her at an AWP panel. Read some more
of her nonfiction. Met her briefly at another conference. Read more. Next, I interviewed Sue here on the blog about her craft book, Fearless
Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, which I've recommended to many students. That
interview remains one of the most heavily trafficked posts here. I'm delighted
in so many ways to have Sue back, this time talking about her new book from the University of
Nebraska Press.
Please
welcome Sue William Silverman.
LR.
So – The Pat Boone
Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew. I'm guessing you've gotten a
number of raised eyebrow questions about that subtitle. To me, the first two
essays perfectly explain it. Subtitles do seem especially important in memoir.
How did you come to this subtitle? Was
it long before publication? During editing? A collaboration with the
publisher?
SWS. Oh,
that subtitle! The main reaction I get is a laugh, which I love. The book, in
part, is supposed to be funny – or, well, ironic. I wanted a subtitle that
would convey the tone of the book, not just the subject matter.
I
came up with the subtitle long before I sent the book to the publisher.
Initially, there was another one (I can’t remember what), but it didn’t quite
fit. So my partner Marc and I brainstormed subtitles one day, and this one
immediately rose to the top of the list.
LR. Since this is a memoir-in-essays (my favorite
kind of nonfiction), I will ask the question I ask every writer who has
assembled such a book. Since some of the essays were published in journals over
a multi-year span, at what point did you realize you had a book
percolating? That the threads between
different essays were strong enough to collect them?
SWS. Initially,
I had no idea I was writing a book. I had already published two memoirs, a book
on craft, and a poetry collection, so I wanted to write something I’d never
tried before: stand-alone essays. I was about two years into this essay-writing
business when it hit me that, in one form or another, all the essays were about
how, growing up, I wanted to belong to the dominant culture/religion and that,
in conjunction with this, my feelings toward Judaism were confused and
ambiguous.
Once
I realized this, I took the already published essays and reframed them (some
more than others) to more closely align them with this theme of self-definition
and identity.
I also
wrote new sections to fill out and deepen this exploration. Most of these new essay/chapters
wouldn’t have worked as stand-alone pieces as they more fully “speak” only to the
other essays.
LR.
I'm interested in the process of transforming the individual essays into a
coherent, logical progression. Can you describe your process of selecting,
revising, ordering, and writing additional transition pieces to make it work as
a book?
SWS. Let
me give some examples.
The
first essay I wrote is also title essay, “The Pat Boone Fan Club,” and sets the
tone/theme of the book in that, growing up, I wanted the clean-cut, wholesome, overtly
Christian 1960s pop star, Pat Boone, to adopt me, as if he could save me from
my abusive Jewish father.
The
next essay I wrote, originally titled “The Land of Look Behind,” focuses on my
obsession with a homeless tramp who wandered around St. Thomas (where I spent
most of my childhood). In the original, stand-alone version, the essay explored
the idea of hypocrisy: the wealthy white parents on the island warned us kids,
their children, that the tramp might be dangerous. However, ironically, and
generally speaking, these white parents were the dangerous adults. In fact, the
tramp wasn’t dangerous at all. Among the white parents, many were alcoholics. Others
physically and emotionally abused their children. To say nothing of my own dangerous
and hypocritical father.
This
idea of hypocrisy remains, yet I re-slanted many details – for the book – to highlight
the tramp’s role as a potential “savior.” I followed him around as if he, like
Pat Boone, could save me – could lead me away from my father – as if he were a
spiritual being and I was one of his followers. I also changed the title to
“The Wandering Jew” to emphasize that aspect of culture.
As
I continued on with the book, I shifted the lens a bit, with each essay, to
approach this theme of identity from different angles. For example, there’s a
section, “That Summer of War and Apricots,” about a trip to Israel to pick apricots
on a kibbutz – but I still don’t discover
my Jewish roots. There’s a section called “Galveston Island Breakdown: Some
Directions” about an existential crisis I have when my marriage, myself, and my
Volkswagen all break down. In “My Sorted Past,” I explore the idea of identity
when I visit the movie set of the filming of my second memoir Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through
Sexual Addiction, and so on.
The
final pieces I wrote for the book are what I call “bridge sections” in which I
address the reader directly. These, sprinkled throughout the book, act as a kind
of “meta” element to help guide the reader on this journey.
LR.
Do you enjoy that part of the process, or is it a special kind of torture? One
memoirist told me going from individual essays to a memoir-in-essays meant she
had to "break the back of each piece," and that it felt like breaking
her own back at the same time.
SWS. Actually,
I loved this part of the process! I love to revise in any event, but, in terms
of this book, it deepened my own understanding of how various encounters with
people, or moments in time, were, in fact, a search for self. As I revised each
essay – and/or wrote new ones – it was kind of like solving mysteries. For
example: How did this tramp in the West
Indies represent a savior? What were my true feelings toward him?
Metaphorically, how was he just like Pat Boone in terms of my search? I
write memoir/essays to make sense of my life, to discover the metaphors of it.
Ironically,
therefore, my experience was probably the exact opposite from your friend’s in
that, for me, this revision process helped form
my backbone, rather than breaking my back.
LR.
A few of the bridge pieces are in the form of letters to "Gentle
Reader" signed SWS, and referring to the narrator as a "little Gefilte
(fish)." What was the genesis for
those?
SWS. After
I’d finished the “regular” essays, I felt I needed an additional unifying
element to better hold the book together. In these sections the narrator takes
on the “persona” of a gefilte fish – yes, very surreal, I know! But the gefilte
fish acts as a metaphor for this narrator in her quest for identity: Who am I? Can I be a Christian? Can I accept
Judaism? How can I find a “me” who feels comfortable in her skin?
Why
a gefilte fish? Because it isn’t a “real” fish! There is no fish swimming in
the ocean called “gefilte.” It’s kind of a mish-mash without a true identity.
Which is how I myself felt growing up – a kind of mish-mash of identities – so it
seemed like the perfect metaphoric image.
LR.
In some places, you use subheads and/or segmented form. Elsewhere, the reader
encounters multiple choice questions; excerpts from emails, signs, and website
text; script formatting; and some varied type fonts. I've read that some
writers and publishers -- cognizant (consciously or not) of how readers' visual
expectations have changed because of the internet and shorter attention spans
-- are building more visual elements, shorter "easy eyefuls" into
book-length work (especially in YA fiction). To me, these things in your book
seem to be purely creative, narrative-driven decisions, but I wondered if any
of that crossed your mind?
SWS. Oh,
interesting. It never occurred to me to write with that in mind: changes in
readers’ expectations, shorter attention spans, etc. You’re right: all my
decisions were narrative-driven. What did I need to best convey the material in
this particular essay/chapter? How best to serve the needs of the piece? All
decisions were based on that.
But
that’s an interesting observation: that readers’ tastes have changed. And, for
all I know, I might have been subconsciously influenced by that without
realizing it!
LR. I often use something I'm reading in my
teaching, and one of the micro ways in which I took this book into the
classroom was to point out your excellent use of verbs – precise, interesting,
unexpected, so carefully selected. Does that come naturally to you, or does
attention to word choice mostly happen during revision? A little of both?
SWS. Thank
you! I’m delighted you see this in my writing. Some of the word selection, as
it does for all writers, comes naturally. However, most of this attention to word
selection, metaphor, detail comes only with revision. Everything I write goes
through a gazillion drafts – well, okay, maybe fifteen or twenty…I lose track. But
a lot.
The
first draft is usually getting the basic narrative in place. Then, with each
subsequent draft, I move from this broad focus to smaller details. I’ll revise
to ensure every image speaks to the theme. I try to find the most accurate
words. I examine each sentence to ensure it builds on the previous one.
I
can only accomplish so much in any given draft, so it’s a long process. But the
longer I stay with a piece, the more I’ll discover the exact word or verb to
convey the meaning at hand.
LR.
I understand Pat Boone has been
supportive of the book; that you even attended his 80th birthday
party. Can you tell me what it has been like – after admiring him from afar for
so long, and spending so much time dissecting your unusual pull to him, and
writing about it – to be in real contact with him, off the page?
SWS. Yes,
Pat Boone likes the book! It’s both flattering and surreal to have developed a
bit of a relationship with him. I first had a crush on him when I was a
teeny-bopper! And now, all these years later, he knows my name…and admires my writing! I mean, that’s kind of wild.
Here’s
what’s most gratifying: he’s really a nice person. My early childhood instincts
were correct. The memoir revolves around three separate times I met Pat Boone.
In one instance, when he invited me backstage after a Christmas concert, he
pointed to an embroidered flower on the jacket I was wearing and said, “You
remind me of a flower growing up through concrete.” By this time, he’d read my
first two memoirs (one about my incestuous family, the other about a subsequent
struggle with sex addiction), so he was referring to how I survived. In this
sense, therefore, he did see me more
clearly than my own father.
Then,
when I told him I planned to attend his 80th Birthday Party
Celebrity Roast at the Beverly Hilton (back on June 1st), he was
genuinely delighted. He asked me to bring additional copies of my book for him
to give to his family and friends. And, he invited me to attend the VIP
reception before the dinner. When he saw me he gave me a big hug!
There
were hundreds of people at the party, yet he took time to talk about the book
with me. The very last line of the book is metaphoric and we discussed the
meaning of it! I mean, could I ever have imagined discussing metaphors with Pat
Boone!? (That said, he graduated magna cum laude in English from Columbia
University.)
So
while it’s true that, politically, we don’t have a thing in common, and I am
distressed by the fact that he’s a member of the conservative Tea Party (I’m a
liberal Democrat), still, I’ve been able to look past these differences and find
this gentle, caring side of Pat Boone.
LR. Given that you are busy teaching writing at
the graduate level, is it difficult to make progress on your own writing? What
are you working on now (if you don't mind sharing)?
SWS. Probably
no writer feels as if she/he has enough time to write! But since I teach at a
low-residency MFA in Writing program (Vermont College of Fine Arts), as opposed
to teaching at a traditional college with daily classes, I probably have more
time than others. So I can’t (or shouldn’t) complain.
Besides,
I love to teach and am quite satisfied with this balance between teaching and
writing.
I’m
currently working on another memoir/essay collection. I’ve got a very rough
draft. It’s still finding its form and focus, but I’m getting closer to
figuring it out.
Also,
I’m quite excited that I wrote a poem last week! It’s the first one I’ve
written since my poetry collection was published back in 2006. I was worried
I’d never write another one. The title is “If the Girl Never Learns to Cook or
Sew” (yes, autobiographical). So maybe another poetry collection is
percolating. I hope so!
Note
from Lisa: Sue will *stop by* the blog for several days after this post runs,
to answer any questions left in comments. She will also send a complimentary
signed copy of The
Pat Boone Fan Club
to a randomly selected commenter (must have a US postal address). To be in the drawing, post your comment by end of day Wednesday, August 5.
10 comments:
Thanks so much for posting my interview, Lisa! I'm very appreciative. Sue
Hi Lisa,
Loved this interview w/ Sue...will buy book or maybe will "win" one in her drawing! Title sounded like my life so, of course, I have to read it! Miss taking classes with you. Studying for nat'l psych exam so writing is on the back burner...simmering :) marilee
Thanks so much, Marilee! That's so interesting that you can relate to the title! Good luck with your psych exam! Sue
Thanks so much, Marilee! That's so interesting that you can relate to the title! Good luck with your psych exam! Sue
Hi Marilee, Thanks for chiming in - I miss working with you too! You will enjoy reading Sue's book, I'm sure.
Lisa and Sue, I really enjoyed your far-ranging and substantive interview. I did a search for Pat Boone on my memoir-in-progress, A 1961-65 Park College Diary, and found that I had mentioned his book, Between You, Me and the Gatepost, in December 1960, and another of his books, This is Christmas, in December 1961.
Sue, how did you obtain your first invitation from Pat Boone to go backstage with him?
Hi, Barbara -- thanks so much for reading the blog! That's very interesting about your own connection with Pat Boone, that you've read some of his books!
In the title essay of my memoir, I explain how I just barged backstage to meet him! I wasn't at all invited. I wanted to tell him what he meant to me growing up, so I took it upon myself to simply go backstage to see if I could find him. And I did!
The next time (that I also describe in the book), after we'd struck up a bit of a relationship, he invited me backstage after a subsequent concert.
Then, in June, I flew out to LA to attend his 80th birthday party celebrity roast, and he was incredibly sweet...talking about the book and letting me know how much he liked it.
Thanks so much for your comment!
I'm not Jewish, I didn't grow up in the West Indies, I don't particularly care for Pat Boone, and I'd really like to read this book. Sometimes we read because we relate to the material, and sometimes because we want something that's completely outside of ourselves. And I'm interested in how your essays came together as a memoir, after reading about the process here. Another excellent author interview!
Colleen, I love your comment! It made me smile! Thank you so much for wanting to read my book. I'm the same way when it comes to literature: sometimes the material is familiar, yet, in other instances, it isn't. (I just finished reading an Iraqi War memoir.) At the same time, regardless of the actual material itself, sometimes we can relate to the underlying emotions. In other words, the memoir is also about sense of identity.
Marilee - Congratulations! You are the winner of Sue's book. Please email me with your postal address so Sue can sign and mail it to you!
Thanks everyone for reading!
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