Ask the Author: Patrick Dacey

“Ask me a question.” Patrick Dacey

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Patrick Dacey IQ84 - Murakami
No Great Mischief - Alistair MacLeod
The Green Road - Anne Enright
The End of Vandalism - Tom Drury
After the Parade - Lori Ostlund
A History of Violence - Oscar Martinez
Heat and Light - Jennifer Haigh
The Vegetarian - Han Kang
The Book of Harlen - Bernice L. McFadden
Dangling Man - Saul Bellow
The Stories of Frederich Busch
Somebody With a Little Hammer - Mary Gaitskill
The Rabbit Novels - John Updike
Homesick for Another World - Ottessa Moshfegh
Evicted - Matthew Desmond

Patrick Dacey Geoffrey Firmin and Yvonne from Malcolm Lowry's 'Under the Volcano'. They are both such full characters--fearful, regretful, resentful--and oddly loving and compassionate. They also contrast so perfectly, because we see Firmin's inner world and Yvonne's outer world crumbling at the same time, which tells us they cannot survive together, a kind of radicalized play about what it means to love someone you cannot be with.
Patrick Dacey Hi Alice,
I don't believe in writer's block, so I don't have tips on how to get through it. For me, I usually go through a period of writing really terrible sentences, usually ones that are forced and directionless. But, this seems more like a slump, and one that you have to work through to get back on course. If you're writing every day, you'll come through it and be better for it, because you have struggled.
Patrick Dacey Revisions on my next book, a novel called "The Outer Cape", about a family on Cape Cod, set between 1992 and present day. It's about love, hate, war, and forgiveness.
Patrick Dacey Be open, be disciplined, be aware.
Patrick Dacey I don't believe in writer's block, more like writer's despair, loneliness, sleeplessness, panic, and/or self-loathing. All of which I guess are necessary when you're trying to write a novel. I often have too many ideas and struggle to focus on just one. I admire someone who can spend years working through one idea.

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