Charles Bock: The Radar Interview by FEK
My favorite parts, wise words, and sage advice:
Okay. I started the book as a short story while at Bennington in, I think, early 1996. It sold on July 30, 2006. The novel came out in early 2008. Those are the hard numbers… I tell people the dates and circumstances. They can decide how long it actually took. I know this: I worked very hard on it for a very long time.
By very long time, I mean much longer than I ever thought it would take, or ever wanted it to take. I hope whatever’s next won’t take as long.
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Honestly, to try and write a novel right now, you have to be insane. A friend once told me that the only reason to write fiction is because a book saved your life. I really believe that.
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The woman who is now my wife got tired of me working on it, but also believed in the novel. And we knew that given the way the publishing industry is right now (fickle, hard, fucked), and given the ambition and difficulty of this project (it’s not about buying shoes and looking for love on the Upper West Side), I had one chance. So she knew that I had to get it right. I’m lucky that she loves me and believed in the book.
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I know you do. Janet Maslin is certainly allowed to not like my novel. She’s even allowed to think that James Frey wrote a better novel than my novel. That’s fine with me. I’m not in a competition. Books aren’t about that. Hell, Janet Maslin is also allowed to write that Titanic is basically the best American movie since Gone With the Wind, which she did write. Maybe that says a lot about Janet Maslin’s tastes. I don’t really know. The truth is, my book got a lot of wonderful attention from the people at the Times. It got wonderful reviews from some other very serious people, as well as strong reviews from places that are more poppy and fun. Most people who give the book an honest read seem to respond really well to it. I have nothing to complain about, press-wise. Nothing at all. People are allowed to not like my novel. Fine. Having said this, I hope that everyone who reads my next book thinks it’s great. Who knows, maybe it will happen.
