Interviews
On Sunday, March 22nd, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Barbara Gowdy to discuss MISTER SANDMAN.
Moderator: Hello, Barbara Gowdy. We are pleased you could join us to discuss MISTER SANDMAN! Welcome.
Barbara Gowdy: Thank you.
Kate from New York City: Hello, Barbara Gowdy! I just tried to explain this novel to my girlfriend and found it very difficult because there's so much there! (This is not a criticism.) In your own words, I'd like to hear your explanation of what MISTER SANDMAN is about. Thanks!
Barbara Gowdy: It might help to read the jacket copy. It is about a lot of things, mostly it is about human nature, an investigation about what is normal in a family.
Carrie from Bolton, MA: Reincarnation is a big theme in MISTER SANDMAN, as Joan's character is seen as a reincarnation, and certain signs are interpreted by her, Doris, and Sonja as a sign of this reincarnation. Could you talk a little bit about reincarnation and Joan's revelations resulting in the renewal of her own family?
Barbara Gowdy: I suppose to me reincarnation is a fact of life in that throughout life we reinvent ourselves and we come to have a new understanding of others, which is a kind of reincarnation of observation.
Betty from New York City: MISTER SANDMAN was published in hardcover -- to much critical acclaim -- by Steerforth Press. Could you talk about the experience of being published by a small independent press? Do you think independent presses will become the way of the future, with publishers like Grove/Atlantic publishing such award-winning bestsellers as COLD MOUNTAIN?
Barbara Gowdy: I don't know. I fear for small publishers, because their books don't get much shelf space when the big blockbuster biographies and books by big-name celebrities come out. Small presses tend to publish literary fiction, which has a relatively small audience. What Steerforth did for me was give me a great deal of attention and care.
Marion from Toronto: What is your writing schedule like? How long did it take you to write MISTER SANDMAN? How many drafts did you go through?
Barbara Gowdy: I tend to write five hours a day, four days a week once I start a book. The rest of the workday is taken up by the business of being a writer. Between books I am obliged to devote myself to publicity and reading tours around the world. I would like to get to the point where I didn't have to do any publicity but I am not there yet. MISTER SANDMAN, like my other books, was written slowly in one draft, but each day I rewrote what I had written up until then.
Christina Waage from Boston: Your characters' sexuality seems to be a big issue in MISTER SANDMAN. I was particularly intrigued that the Canary parents Gordon and Doris, homosexual and bisexual respectively, were actually happy in that situation and were wonderful parents. Alternative family lifestyles were alive and well in the '50s! Why did you decide to focus on the Canary family's sexuality?
Barbara Gowdy: Alternative family lifestyles were alive but not at all well in the '50s. In fact it was against the law to be a practicing homosexual. Writing about a kind of sexuality that is not mainstream enables me to write about living on the edge.
Karen from Alexandria, VA: Could you give us a little hint of what your next novel will be about?
Barbara Gowdy: Yes, it will be published by Metropolitan in the U.S., which is an imprint of Henry Holt. It should be coming out in the spring of '99 and called the WHITE BONE. it is a story of the search for safety told from the point of view of African elephants.
Jennifer from Long Island: Music and lyrics play a big role in MISTER SANDMAN. What music do you like to listen to, Ms. Gowdy?
Barbara Gowdy: I am currently listening to classical -- Mozart, Schubert, and Bach, and jazz (Miles Davis and Thelonius Monk), but I don't listen to music at all when I am writing because I find it distracting. I did study music for many years, which I suppose is why it creeps into my fiction.
Jack Meador from Montpelier, Vermont: Hello Ms. Gowdy. I have to say I will honestly never listen to MISTER SANDMAN the same way again after reading this novel. Why was that particular song featured so prominently in your novel?
Barbara Gowdy: Because when I was a little girl it was my favorite song, and I thought that the lyrics were "Mr. Sandman bring me a drink."
Corrine Arleth from San Francisco: Your narrative voice seems to have such knowledge of children -- their secrets, their dreams, and so on. How difficult was it to get into a child's mindframe while you were writing MISTER SANDMAN?
Barbara Gowdy: It is always very easy to write from the point of view of a child. I don't know what that means except that perhaps I live more in the past than in the present. I have no children of my own, and that may be why I find them so fascinating.
Justine from California: What do you think of critics who compare you to John Irving and Alice Munroe? Thank you for taking my question.
Barbara Gowdy: You're welcome. Thank you for asking. I am flattered by most comparisons. On the other hand, I rarely understand the comparisons. I think it is like when someone says you look like someone else. You see it and you don't.
Aimee from Seattle: Who do you like to read? Who are your literary influences?
Barbara Gowdy: Everything I have read has influenced me, including cereal boxes and billboards, but I know that is not what you mean. I think I was very much influenced by the Bible and fairy stories. As for writers I admire -- there are too many to mention really, but I will say I am in awe of Alice Munroe, Cormac MacCarthy (especially his olders works), Jane Austen, George Eliot, and America's own Lorrie Moore.
Yolanda from Albuquerque: How important is humor to you in your writing? Do you mean to be intentionally funny or does it just happen? I laughed out loud reading MISTER SANDMAN.
Barbara Gowdy: I am glad you laughed out loud. I laugh when I am writing. The funny stuff, if it is funny, comes out of nowhere. I don't believe a writer is truly telling an honest story if she excludes the absurdities of life. Unfortunately, humor isn't considered "literary" in many circles, but I can live with that.
Jacqueline from Pittsburgh: Will there be a movie version of MISTER SANDMAN? Is there anything in the works?
Barbara Gowdy: The movie rights have been optioned, and I hope it will become a movie -- although I think the character of Joan will be a hard one to put on the screen.
Moderator: Thank you for fielding all of our questions this afternoon, Ms. Gowdy. Any final comments for our online audience?
Barbara Gowdy: Thank you for reading the book with such obvious attention to theme and detail; you hearten me. Now back to the THE WHITE BONE (which I am rewriting).
