Ask the Author: Stuart Archer Cohen
Answered Questions (5)
Stuart Archer Cohen
Dear Barbara,
Nice to hear from you. It's rare that people connect my two lives, of merchant and novelist, but running a business that takes me all over the world definitely has shaped all of my novels.
As to which to read, you are tempting me to go on a long disquisition about writing in general and my own books in particular.
Each of my books is completely different from the others, because I am always exploring different themes and (usually more difficult) narrative strategies. The reasons the author might like a book are different from the reason a reader would.
My personal favorite is the most recent one, This Is How It Really Sounds, It's very entertaining and hides a complex narrative strategy and deep, interlocking profound themes behind a simple and often comic narrative. Some people have tried to shrink-wrap the themes into a neat little package that doesn't really apply, as it's a book that constantly moves outward and larger, and you don't really know what it's about until the last page. I view it as my only book that is actually successful.
Invisible World is about antique textiles and friendship and things like that, but really it's about how the physical world is a sort of map of a much larger, deeper invisible world of the imagination, memory etc. It's the most closely related to the store. For some, it's their favorite, but as the author I always see things I could do better now, so it's hard for me to read. Like my latest book, Chinese gardens come up as an important motif.
17 Stone Angels is a fun, anti-Detective Thriller about a corrupt police chief in Buenos Aires assigned to investigate a murder he committed (that's on page one) and is my 2nd favorite of my books. I wrote it very quickly at a fairly desperate time of life, and the desperation comes through, which makes it a better book. If you like thrillers that have some deeper layers, you will have fun with this one.
Finally, there is The Army of the Republic, a harsh, very complex political thriller about insurgency and revolt in the American family. Death squads, bombings, mass movements with enormous demonstrations- in this book I took a lot of the guerrilla and civil society movements I had studied in Latin America and transposed them to a near-future corporate-controlled United States. I also did extensive research into American protest movements and civil organizers of the 60's and the present day. At its root, AOR is about very human impulses of rebellion, greed, lust for power and love, but these are played out within an intricate overstory of politics and mass movements. It's a disturbing book, but some readers prefer it to all of my others. It will definitely shed some light on many of the mass demonstrations and insurgencies that you read about in the newspaper.
I'm not sure how helpful all of that is! Thanks for you interest, I hope you enjoy whichever you decide to read.
Cordially,
Stuart
Nice to hear from you. It's rare that people connect my two lives, of merchant and novelist, but running a business that takes me all over the world definitely has shaped all of my novels.
As to which to read, you are tempting me to go on a long disquisition about writing in general and my own books in particular.
Each of my books is completely different from the others, because I am always exploring different themes and (usually more difficult) narrative strategies. The reasons the author might like a book are different from the reason a reader would.
My personal favorite is the most recent one, This Is How It Really Sounds, It's very entertaining and hides a complex narrative strategy and deep, interlocking profound themes behind a simple and often comic narrative. Some people have tried to shrink-wrap the themes into a neat little package that doesn't really apply, as it's a book that constantly moves outward and larger, and you don't really know what it's about until the last page. I view it as my only book that is actually successful.
Invisible World is about antique textiles and friendship and things like that, but really it's about how the physical world is a sort of map of a much larger, deeper invisible world of the imagination, memory etc. It's the most closely related to the store. For some, it's their favorite, but as the author I always see things I could do better now, so it's hard for me to read. Like my latest book, Chinese gardens come up as an important motif.
17 Stone Angels is a fun, anti-Detective Thriller about a corrupt police chief in Buenos Aires assigned to investigate a murder he committed (that's on page one) and is my 2nd favorite of my books. I wrote it very quickly at a fairly desperate time of life, and the desperation comes through, which makes it a better book. If you like thrillers that have some deeper layers, you will have fun with this one.
Finally, there is The Army of the Republic, a harsh, very complex political thriller about insurgency and revolt in the American family. Death squads, bombings, mass movements with enormous demonstrations- in this book I took a lot of the guerrilla and civil society movements I had studied in Latin America and transposed them to a near-future corporate-controlled United States. I also did extensive research into American protest movements and civil organizers of the 60's and the present day. At its root, AOR is about very human impulses of rebellion, greed, lust for power and love, but these are played out within an intricate overstory of politics and mass movements. It's a disturbing book, but some readers prefer it to all of my others. It will definitely shed some light on many of the mass demonstrations and insurgencies that you read about in the newspaper.
I'm not sure how helpful all of that is! Thanks for you interest, I hope you enjoy whichever you decide to read.
Cordially,
Stuart
Stuart Archer Cohen
I'm inspired all the time. I get a feeling and I want to convey that feeling. It's magical and invigoration.
However, once I get to the office, the feeling is gone and it's all about filling up pages and solving problems. I only feel inspired in my office for brief periods of maybe 30 at a time, once or twice a week.
However, once I get to the office, the feeling is gone and it's all about filling up pages and solving problems. I only feel inspired in my office for brief periods of maybe 30 at a time, once or twice a week.
Stuart Archer Cohen
I'm about to start a new book which I think will center around climate change denial.
Stuart Archer Cohen
It doesn't take talent to become a writer: it takes work ethic.
The main talent it takes to be a writer is the talent of sitting alone in a room (read Michael Ventura's essay, The Talent of the Room).
Write the rough draft quickly and don't look back too much.
Until you have a beginning, middle and end, you're dealing with infinity, and that doesn't fit in a book.
Don't tear yourself apart telling yourself how bad it is, or how it should be more like somebody else.
Don't let too many people in the room with you.
The main talent it takes to be a writer is the talent of sitting alone in a room (read Michael Ventura's essay, The Talent of the Room).
Write the rough draft quickly and don't look back too much.
Until you have a beginning, middle and end, you're dealing with infinity, and that doesn't fit in a book.
Don't tear yourself apart telling yourself how bad it is, or how it should be more like somebody else.
Don't let too many people in the room with you.
Stuart Archer Cohen
I have writer's block every single day. Doesn't everybody?
On any given day, when I get stopped I just write any kind of crap that comes to mind until I find the sentence that matters, then I go off that sentence.
In the bigger picture, I basically have to suffer through and keep churning out pages, no matter how peripheral, bad or useless they are. I have a quota of 4 pp per day, and I can spend weeks working on material I later throw away. But that's how you find out what happens.
On any given day, when I get stopped I just write any kind of crap that comes to mind until I find the sentence that matters, then I go off that sentence.
In the bigger picture, I basically have to suffer through and keep churning out pages, no matter how peripheral, bad or useless they are. I have a quota of 4 pp per day, and I can spend weeks working on material I later throw away. But that's how you find out what happens.
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