Interview with Wally Lamb
Wally Lamb's first two novels, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True, were huge sellers, thanks to Oprah's book club. It took Lamb a decade to create The Hour I First Believed, which was released this week. His book tour was scheduled to start yesterday at the University of Connecticut (he's a huge Husky basketball fan -- just like me). Here's an excerpt from an interview with Publishers Weekly; click here for the complete version.
PW: Your original deadline was 2004. Were you worried when that deadline was approaching? Lamb: The first year was spent spinning my wheels. As the approaching deadline neared, the story had taken hold but I knew I had a lot of work ahead. ... I hadn’t meant to get involved in teaching at Connecticut's York Correctional Institution for women and later editing my incarcerated students’ stories for publication. But as much as that robbed time and energy from me, it also aided the novel.
PW: Do you still teach that writing workshop? Lamb: I’m still very much involved in the workshop. ... I’ve never been involved with writers who have been so enthusiastic and involved in creating and revising their work. I didn’t know that the women would give me more of an education than I was giving them. As I was reacting to their writing, they would give me feedback to the chunks of chapters I would bring in.
At the same time I was reacting to a school shooting that had happened in Paducah, Kentucky. A cousin of mine had two daughters at that school and I began to think about how people could survive that experience. ... I didn’t feel like I could fictionalize this story. I felt like I had to interface my characters with the real characters of Columbine. I hope that I’ve done it responsibly so it doesn’t cause more suffering.
Comments
I am currently reading "The Hour I First Believed" (I'm on page 331). I must say that similar to Mr. Lamb's earlier novels, I am completely enthralled. He never disappoints me! I have been waiting ten years for another novel. I was in Graduate School when I first read "I Know This Much Is True". I actually got into some trouble because I couldn't put the book down for a week. My assignments fell to the wayside because I was staying up reading till three, forcing my eyelids open. So far, however, the most recent book is my favorite. This past September, I began a new endeavor: teaching 6th grade English for NYC schools, (previously, I taught kindergarten) and have actually learned a lot from Calem! I am hoping to find a way to contact Mr. Lamb through e-mail, because I want so much to express my admiration for him as both a teacher and a writer.
Posted by: Lea Gasperino | December 21, 2008 12:54 AM