The best part was when it turned into a dance party and everyone kept grabbing my ass
I am reading in Bethesda, MD on Sunday at the Writer’s Center at 2 PM. Please spread the word! Thanks.
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Hoo-boy. That was a long night. And a rough morning. But a great reading and party.
I don’t know, you guys. That was some good stuff. How will my Brooklyn event possibly top it? And yet IT MUST.
In the press today:
Kate Christensen interviews me for the Rumpus about fucking and writing. Where do I start with this one? So much goodness. Kate calls the book, “trenchant, frank, poignant, tender, and, dare I say, heartwarming.” Which was lovely and awesome. But my favorite part is when she said this:
“According to the Publishers’ Weekly “best books of 2009? list makers who chose books by men only, women write “small” novels, which these judges deem less “ambitious.” Maybe that comes from being awash in nurturing, connection-seeking estrogen and having all our sex organs neatly tucked away inside. Those guys with their outward dangly bits can swashbuckle their testosterone around on the page and be “big” and “ambitious.” Oh I don’t know, this is probably a load of crap; I can think of so many exceptions to this generalization in both men and women writers. But there’s something going on that seems decidedly sex-based, and I can only hope that some day the “small” novels of keenly attuned communication (by men and women both) get their due.”
Go read the discussion right now because it’s pretty great.
Fucking and Writing: The Rumpus Conversation with Jami Attenberg
And over on Elle.com there’s a nice, long interview with me. The interviewer said, “Attenberg’s imagery is picture perfect and, many times, tragic.” That was super nice. Here’s a tidbit:
RELLE: A same-sex relationship is central in The Melting Season. Why do you think fairly liberal states like New York and New Jersey can’t seem to pass a same-sex marriage bill?
JA: Because I think there’s a bunch of old white guys running the show still, and they’re scared. And there are gay politicians who are in the closet who are self-loathing. I just watched this documentary on HBO that was all about politicians who are in the closet and all of these laws that they’ve passed that are pretty much anti-gay laws. When Obama was elected and all the civil marriage laws where voted down, my mom said she felt like gay marriage was kind of going to be our thing 20 years from now. Hopefully, it doesn’t take that long, but this is kind of our cause right now. It just really pisses me off—I have to be honest with you, and it’s not like I have a ton of gay friends. It’s not like it’s necessarily an intrinsic part of my life, I think it’s just about being a human being. I don’t know why, but people are afraid of it. Marriage is such a free-flowing thing at this point, and the whole notion of nuclear families has completely been redefined in this country and around the world, so it’s for nobody to say, it’s for nobody to judge at this point.
Read it here: Book Release: The Melting Season
