Order FIGHT SONG here
Last month, I reviewed Joshua Mohr's FIGHT SONG and quite dug it. The book was officially released six days ago and Joshua graciously accepted to drop by for a chat as a part of his blog tour. I was intrigued by the novel and its efficient use of satire (a rare thing in today's narrative arts landscape), so blog tour boss Lori Hettler was nice enough to give me a second post. That's right, namedropped-in-the-New-York-Times Lori Hettler and I are on first name basis. Hah! Now on with Joshua Mohr and the crazy, strange and exhilarating world of FIGHT SONG...
Your name has been circulating as an up-and-coming writer for some time, but could you introduce yourself to my readers and resume your career, up to the publication of FIGHT SONG?
Last month, I reviewed Joshua Mohr's FIGHT SONG and quite dug it. The book was officially released six days ago and Joshua graciously accepted to drop by for a chat as a part of his blog tour. I was intrigued by the novel and its efficient use of satire (a rare thing in today's narrative arts landscape), so blog tour boss Lori Hettler was nice enough to give me a second post. That's right, namedropped-in-the-New-York-Times Lori Hettler and I are on first name basis. Hah! Now on with Joshua Mohr and the crazy, strange and exhilarating world of FIGHT SONG...
Your name has been circulating as an up-and-coming writer for some time, but could you introduce yourself to my readers and resume your career, up to the publication of FIGHT SONG?
I live in the Mission District of San Francisco and have published a
trilogy of novels about the artists and addicts of this vibrant
neighborhood. the cycle culminated with DAMASCUS, which is the name
of a dive bar. FIGHT SONG is a move away from that milieu. I wanted
to try and retell THE WIZARD OF OZ set in a 21st century American
suburbs. and I wanted to write a satire. As an artist, you have to get
out of your comfort zone, be willing to fail. With FIGHT SONG, I got
away from what i know.
I didn't get the WIZARD OF OZ parallel, but now that you say it,
it makes sense. Did you base FIGHT SONG on personal experience or a
personal exasperation with middle-age crisis and suburbia? What motivated
you to pick these themes?
Well, the WIZARD OF OZ thing was intentionally vague. It was more a
frame of reference for me, rather than something a reader would see. I based the book on the character, Bob Coffen. I got an idea about a fat
computer programmer on his bike, getting run off the road by his alpha
man-boy neighbor in a SUV. I knew that was going to be the beginning,
but I didn't know anything else about the story. I never do. When i
write novels, i only know the point of entry. Whatever happens from
there are just organic discoveries.
That very scene, "the Oleanders incident" bears heavy meaning for Bob
and affects the entire novel. At what point during the creative process
did you identified it would be a trigger, a symbol of his issues? Are
you the type of writer who empathize with their protagonist a lot?
Empathy is the heart of storytelling. The author must feel it for her
subjects and if we do our job right, the reader will develop an empathy
for the dramatic circumstances, too. I'd be giving myself too much
credit if I said I knew what would spring forth from that initial
scene. But I do trust the process of building a book brick by brick,
scene by scene.
FIGHT SONG obviously satirizes middle-age crisis. Would you say
introspection and self-help is becoming just another branded commodity?
Bob Coffen is satirized, but the book is not laughing at him by the time
it ends. We were just talking about empathy and I have a lot of it for
Bob. He's in a very ubiquitous rut. Over the course of the book he
tries to find his fight song and live a more fulfilling life.
Given that satire is often born out of anger, is there anything about
the characters of FIGHT SONG and about their condition that irks you?
Definitely. I'm irked by what I fear. And I'm irked by desperate
places that I hope never to find myself. Bob Coffen is a cautionary
tale. He's the guy I don't ever want to devolve into. I want to live a
life that appreciates the gifts around me, rather than taking them for
granted. In the end, that's maybe my main aspiration in life: To be
present, to be aware of all the goodness, rather than shroud myself
away in some bullshit cynicism. It's easy to be a fatalist. Trying to
find the optimism in life, now that takes balls.
What would you say are the principal challenges for career writers both creatively and business-wise?
Thinking about writing being a viable career is THE challenge. I am a
professor, who writes fiction in his free time. That's a frame of
reference that keeps me from putting too much pressure on my novels to
sell, earn money, etc. I have a good teaching gig. So I'm free to let
my narratives be as wild and tawdry as they want to be. I don't need
them to save my life. I just like telling stories.
Who are the writers who inspired you to pick up a pen and who are your contemporaries who keep you interested in the craft?
Denis Johnson is someone who regularly inspires me. Nabokov's PALE FIRE. Doctorow's THE BOOK OF DANIEL. I really dig Lynda Barry's CRUDDY. It's usually not authors, but specific books that get me all
fired up. There's a woman on the rise named Susan Steinberg. Her third
story collection SPECTACLE just came out and it's amazing. She's
doing things at the sentence level that no one else is even attempting.
Anybody you want to thank or any project you want to plug?
We just shot a book trailer for FIGHT SONG. It's an "infomercial" for
a fictitious product called ScoutsHonor! You give the pill to someone
and if they lie to you, they get a bloody nose. People should check it
out here: http://www.joshuamohr.net/
