Talking Volumes with Jennifer Egan

Presented by MPR News and Star Tribune

"I'm extremely nosey and curious," - Jennifer Egan on other people's creative processes #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:10:30 AM
Running is also a help to another author:
Haruki Murakami.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:10:55 AM
Any questions you'd ask Jennifer Egan? What are you wondering about A Visit from the Goon Squad?

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:12:24 AM
Jennifer Egan's website is a work of art. Reminds me of the cover of The Go-Gos' "Talk Show" album. #talkingvolumes

by JacquieFuller via twitter 9/15/2011 12:12:36 AM
Her 10-year-old thinks he will be a MLB 1st Baseman soon. She thought writing would be as easy, too.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:13:35 AM
Even her Mom hid from her after reading her first works.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:14:18 AM
Watch Jennifer Egan onstage right now. Submit your questions via #talkingvolumes. I'll pass them 2 the host, @kerrimpr live.mprnews.org

by stephcurtis via twitter 9/15/2011 12:15:18 AM
"My first book was unreadable," says the Pulitzer Prize winner. #TalkingVolumes

by cvdall via twitter 9/15/2011 12:15:59 AM
"I often go back to that period and think about why I didn't just quit or leave." - Jennifer Egan's early days in NYC #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:16:01 AM
Egan doesn't write about her life at all. At least not consciously.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:17:57 AM
"Maybe if you hadn't had that naïveté and idealism, you would have left." - @kerrimpr #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:18:02 AM
Egan needs the illusion that it's not about her. Why? It bores her.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:19:31 AM
Novel is "a mysterious alternate universe," per Jennifer Egan on #talkingvolumes.

by claudepeck via twitter 9/15/2011 12:19:35 AM
Writes by hand...illegibly. Not sure what she is even writing and can't double check it.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:20:03 AM
Forget a character name whilst writing? Change it.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:20:48 AM
Out of Body, told in the second person by Rob, was solidified by a man she saw on the subway.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:21:51 AM
Empathy & extrapolation...Egan invents someone and then feels behind them a force...but not a connection. Empathy.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:22:57 AM
Guy on subway inspired, Rob, my fave character in Goon Squad. #talkingvolumes

by JacquieFuller via twitter 9/15/2011 12:23:02 AM
My fave character my have been Bernie. In fact, I just dropped some gold flakes in my coffee. #talkingvolumes

by BooksandBars via twitter 9/15/2011 12:24:14 AM
"I always begin with a time and a place." -Jennifer Egan #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:25:00 AM
Egan: I begin with a time and a place, very little about characters. #TalkingVolumes

by cvdall via twitter 9/15/2011 12:25:09 AM
"I don't use people that I know." - Jennifer Egan on her characters. #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:25:12 AM
Likability. Do you need to like the characters to like the book, the story? What do you think?

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:25:39 AM
@BooksandBars I still don't know what those gold flakes are. #naïveté #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:26:33 AM
No wonder what character I'm writing about, it's essential that I understand the logic behind what they do. #TalkingVolumes

by cvdall via twitter 9/15/2011 12:26:35 AM
Won the Pulitzer Prize by avoiding writing something else. Amazing.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:27:18 AM
"The much bigger challenge is to make someone's actions understandable." - Jennifer Egan #TalkingVolumes

by carolinastrain via twitter 9/15/2011 12:27:29 AM
Why? Why do characters do certain things? Motivation is key. Answering and discovering the world of a character.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:28:01 AM
Do any of you have any comments about Egan's writing? Post them here. Ask away.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:28:50 AM
Kerri gets a big laugh. Good crowd here. Great discussion.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:29:58 AM
Egan: a book that lacks empathy is hard to make work. #TalkingVolumes.

by cvdall via twitter 9/15/2011 12:30:04 AM
Idea of reader knowing more than the characters. Does it feel like the reader asks - why don't they get it already?! - Kerri

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:32:26 AM
Dickens makes us feel like we are all on their side - Egan.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:32:48 AM
Egan to read from Safari section.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:33:04 AM
Jennifer Egan reads from "Safari" chapter from AVFTGS. Fave chapter of Diana, my new pal from the sushi bar. #talkingvolumes

by JacquieFuller via twitter 9/15/2011 12:35:44 AM
@JacquieFuller Nobody brings the guys in the booth any sushi. #talkingvolumes

by jefe23 via twitter 9/15/2011 12:36:28 AM
I liked most of these characters. I really felt the short stories added up to a more cohesive whole, like Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:37:33 AM
But I don't NEED to like a character to love a book. Can we like Humbert Humbert? Well, sort of, I guess. Do we like Ignatius J. Reilly?

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:39:33 AM
Sushi in an enclosed space is never a good idea. #talkingvolumes

by stephcurtis via twitter 9/15/2011 12:39:34 AM
The Warblers include members of Suicide Commandos.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:40:31 AM
Chris Osgood from McNally Smith on guitar.

by Jeff Kamin, MPR 9/15/2011 12:40:52 AM
@SusannahKyle Hows' your Lincoln balcony? Had those seats for Ira Glass at the Fitz. #talkingvolumes

by BooksandBars via twitter 9/15/2011 12:43:13 AM
Who's your favorite charcacter in "A Visit from the Goon Squad"? #TalkingVolumes

by cvdall via twitter 9/15/2011 12:45:43 AM
Loved the Spanish from The Warblers. But where was my translator, @Carolinaastrain? #talkingvolumes #nocomprendo #soypocha

by JacquieFuller via twitter 9/15/2011 12:45:54 AM
liked @KerriMPR comparing @Egangoonsquad to a director in her cinematic style #talkingvolumes Egan like PT Anderson or Tarantino

by jefe23 via twitter 9/15/2011 12:45:57 AM

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