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Being Michael Swanwick
In 2001, Michael Swanwick published the book-length interview Being Gardner Dozois. Now Swanwick himself becomes the subject of inquiry. During a year of conversations, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro (Traveler of Conversations with Robert Silverberg) set about discussing with Swanwick his remarkable career, with a particular focus on his extraordinary short fiction.
The resulting collection of transcribed interviews is a tribute to the similarly-named book that inspired it, a discussion of writing craft, an anecdotal genre history, and a chronological survey of the work of a modern master.
The resulting collection of transcribed interviews is a tribute to the similarly-named book that inspired it, a discussion of writing craft, an anecdotal genre history, and a chronological survey of the work of a modern master.
325 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 29, 2023
My colleague Rich Horton's glowing review, which led me to read the book: https://www.blackgate.com/2023/10/01/...
Excerpt:
"I loved this book. I say that as someone who has read a huge portion of Michael Swanwick’s fiction, to be sure. Throughout it I was telling myself things like “I need to reread that story!” or “Hmmm, that’s fascinating — I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Read Rich's review first, is my advice.
Back already? This book is great. An easy 5-star for me, and I don't give many of those. But read on to see if this book is for you. . .
I pre-ordered the book and had a wonderful time reading it. Zinos-Amaro is a great interviewer and did his homework. An amazing amount of work for a book that is most unlikely to be a best-seller! Both he and Swanwick love speculative fiction, are very well read, and are articulate. Swanwick is one of my favorite writers, and over the years has also become a personal friend. It was a pleasure to read the exchanges of these two guys. Especially Swanwick, whose working methods are unique. He basically took a vow of poverty when he started writing. And married a supportive wife with a good income, and health insurance! She contributed a graceful afterword to the book, too.
If you love Swanwick's work and science fiction, especially short stories, you need to read this book. But it is a niche product. Then again, just as Rich wrote, "where would we be if we couldn’t have niches in which those of us who want to can find books like these?"
Excerpt:
"I loved this book. I say that as someone who has read a huge portion of Michael Swanwick’s fiction, to be sure. Throughout it I was telling myself things like “I need to reread that story!” or “Hmmm, that’s fascinating — I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Read Rich's review first, is my advice.
Back already? This book is great. An easy 5-star for me, and I don't give many of those. But read on to see if this book is for you. . .
I pre-ordered the book and had a wonderful time reading it. Zinos-Amaro is a great interviewer and did his homework. An amazing amount of work for a book that is most unlikely to be a best-seller! Both he and Swanwick love speculative fiction, are very well read, and are articulate. Swanwick is one of my favorite writers, and over the years has also become a personal friend. It was a pleasure to read the exchanges of these two guys. Especially Swanwick, whose working methods are unique. He basically took a vow of poverty when he started writing. And married a supportive wife with a good income, and health insurance! She contributed a graceful afterword to the book, too.
If you love Swanwick's work and science fiction, especially short stories, you need to read this book. But it is a niche product. Then again, just as Rich wrote, "where would we be if we couldn’t have niches in which those of us who want to can find books like these?"
September 10, 2023
I'm the author of this book, which comes out November 21st. Here's what folks have been saying :-)
“Michael Swanwick shows a rare, writerly combination: He’s articulate about his own work and also one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. What can I say other than I thoroughly enjoyed this book and felt privileged to have read it.”
— Samuel R. Delany, SF Grand Master, author of Nova and Babel 17
“Being Michael Swanwick is a delightful book. The reader is drawn directly into Alvaro Zinos-Amaro and Michael Swanwick’s enthralling conversation. Alvaro’s insightful questions and Michael’s perceptive responses provide an intriguing introduction to the thoughts of one of SF’s most distinguished and creative authors. The interviews provide a master class in writing, and they are invaluable historical documents that offer reflections on a large slice of science fiction’s history.”
— Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov's Science Fiction
"I’ve watched with admiration and envy as Michael Swanwick has published story after celebrated story over the years. How does he do it? Alvaro Zinos-Amaro has stepped across Michael’s keyboard to find out. Here’s a tour of four decades of science fiction history as told by someone who was always near the center of things. Not only is this a treasure trove of craft secrets, cultural insight and just enough gossip, but Michael also offers answers to those pesky FAQs we writers always get asked. Where do we get our ideas from? How do we make them come alive? Michael knows — and now he’s telling."
— James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards
“Some authors refuse to talk about themselves or their work. Others do so, but run out of new things to say. Only a few have the fertility and the mental legs to go deep and long. J. G. Ballard and Samuel R. Delany and Robert Silverberg are three who’ve done so, at great length: but the books containing interviews with them, which take up hundreds of pages, end too soon. And so it is with Michael Swanwick. The 300 pages of Being Michael Swanwick are not enough. It is only the beginning of a fractal journey into the art and artifice and accident and fatedness inspiring his work that make almost every story Michael’s written over the near half century of a brilliant and prolific career so much worth talking about. The more we read, the more we want. The more we want from him, the more we gain.”
— John Clute, author of Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia
“Whether you’re a longtime Michael Swanwick fan or just encountering his work for the first time, this book is a treasure trove of advice, insight, and gossip, as well as a major contribution to the oral history of science fiction.”
— Alec Nevala-Lee, Hugo Award finalist for Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
“Michael Swanwick is one of the most interesting, important, and imaginative writers of his generation. He can ‘think around corners’ to conceive and create stories and novels that are truly astonishing. Being Michael Swanwick is insightful and—dare I say it—revelatory. My advice: read this book, and then read or reread all the work mentioned therein.”
— Jack Dann, author of Shadows in the Stone
“You have here the rare luxury of inhabiting the uncanny world of Michael Swanwick. Try not to fall off.”
— Gregory Frost, author of Shadowbridge
"An intimate deep dive into the fiery cauldron of the creative process, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro’s Being Michael Swanwick can be equally enjoyed by devotees of Swanwick’s work and those looking for deeper insight into the craft of writing."
— Jacob Weisman, publisher of Tachyon Publications and co-author of Mingus Fingers
"The sorcerer reveals his secrets and his magic becomes all the more powerful for this telling. To read Being Michael Swanwick is pure joy!"
— Henry Wessells, author of The Private Life of Books
“Theodore Sturgeon taught us to ask the next question—but equally important is asking the right question. Alvaro Zinos-Amaro does both in this collection of interviews with one of our very finest sf writers. Few writers have been as central as has Michael Swanwick to both modern science fiction and fantasy literature and the communities from which it springs. Being Michael Swanwick offers detailed insights into both Swanwick’s individual works and those literatures and communities. An invaluable resource and a fascinating read.”
— F. Brett Cox, author of The End of All Exploring & Roger Zelazny
"A fascinating collection of insightful interviews from a very sharp critic, of one of our smartest fantasy writers."
— Farah Mendlesohn, author of A Short History of Fantasy
"This absorbingly insightful conversation reveals not only what makes Michael Swanwick tick, and how his stories came about, but how the world of science fiction ticks, coping with and encouraging change and keeping science fiction fresh and vibrant."
— Mike Ashley, author of The History of the Science Fiction Magazine
“Michael Swanwick shows a rare, writerly combination: He’s articulate about his own work and also one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. What can I say other than I thoroughly enjoyed this book and felt privileged to have read it.”
— Samuel R. Delany, SF Grand Master, author of Nova and Babel 17
“Being Michael Swanwick is a delightful book. The reader is drawn directly into Alvaro Zinos-Amaro and Michael Swanwick’s enthralling conversation. Alvaro’s insightful questions and Michael’s perceptive responses provide an intriguing introduction to the thoughts of one of SF’s most distinguished and creative authors. The interviews provide a master class in writing, and they are invaluable historical documents that offer reflections on a large slice of science fiction’s history.”
— Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov's Science Fiction
"I’ve watched with admiration and envy as Michael Swanwick has published story after celebrated story over the years. How does he do it? Alvaro Zinos-Amaro has stepped across Michael’s keyboard to find out. Here’s a tour of four decades of science fiction history as told by someone who was always near the center of things. Not only is this a treasure trove of craft secrets, cultural insight and just enough gossip, but Michael also offers answers to those pesky FAQs we writers always get asked. Where do we get our ideas from? How do we make them come alive? Michael knows — and now he’s telling."
— James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards
“Some authors refuse to talk about themselves or their work. Others do so, but run out of new things to say. Only a few have the fertility and the mental legs to go deep and long. J. G. Ballard and Samuel R. Delany and Robert Silverberg are three who’ve done so, at great length: but the books containing interviews with them, which take up hundreds of pages, end too soon. And so it is with Michael Swanwick. The 300 pages of Being Michael Swanwick are not enough. It is only the beginning of a fractal journey into the art and artifice and accident and fatedness inspiring his work that make almost every story Michael’s written over the near half century of a brilliant and prolific career so much worth talking about. The more we read, the more we want. The more we want from him, the more we gain.”
— John Clute, author of Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia
“Whether you’re a longtime Michael Swanwick fan or just encountering his work for the first time, this book is a treasure trove of advice, insight, and gossip, as well as a major contribution to the oral history of science fiction.”
— Alec Nevala-Lee, Hugo Award finalist for Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
“Michael Swanwick is one of the most interesting, important, and imaginative writers of his generation. He can ‘think around corners’ to conceive and create stories and novels that are truly astonishing. Being Michael Swanwick is insightful and—dare I say it—revelatory. My advice: read this book, and then read or reread all the work mentioned therein.”
— Jack Dann, author of Shadows in the Stone
“You have here the rare luxury of inhabiting the uncanny world of Michael Swanwick. Try not to fall off.”
— Gregory Frost, author of Shadowbridge
"An intimate deep dive into the fiery cauldron of the creative process, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro’s Being Michael Swanwick can be equally enjoyed by devotees of Swanwick’s work and those looking for deeper insight into the craft of writing."
— Jacob Weisman, publisher of Tachyon Publications and co-author of Mingus Fingers
"The sorcerer reveals his secrets and his magic becomes all the more powerful for this telling. To read Being Michael Swanwick is pure joy!"
— Henry Wessells, author of The Private Life of Books
“Theodore Sturgeon taught us to ask the next question—but equally important is asking the right question. Alvaro Zinos-Amaro does both in this collection of interviews with one of our very finest sf writers. Few writers have been as central as has Michael Swanwick to both modern science fiction and fantasy literature and the communities from which it springs. Being Michael Swanwick offers detailed insights into both Swanwick’s individual works and those literatures and communities. An invaluable resource and a fascinating read.”
— F. Brett Cox, author of The End of All Exploring & Roger Zelazny
"A fascinating collection of insightful interviews from a very sharp critic, of one of our smartest fantasy writers."
— Farah Mendlesohn, author of A Short History of Fantasy
"This absorbingly insightful conversation reveals not only what makes Michael Swanwick tick, and how his stories came about, but how the world of science fiction ticks, coping with and encouraging change and keeping science fiction fresh and vibrant."
— Mike Ashley, author of The History of the Science Fiction Magazine
November 27, 2023
This book is for fans of Michael Swanwick's fiction. Those who aren't familiar with Swanwick – move along, please. Nothing to see here.
Actually, it might interest readers who like to know what authors think about their work. Some authors refuse to talk about it, saying “the stories speak for themselves.” Not Swanwick. Zinos-Amaro is very knowledgeable about science fiction and fantasy precursors and has read or re-read all of Swanwick's work in preparation for this book. Swanwick grew up devouring SF&F in the 1960s and 70s and became part of the next generation of hot writers in the 1980s. His first published story was in 1980 and he's produced hundreds of stories and flash fictions, plus a number of novels. He read SF&F during a time you could pretty much read everything important in the field.
The book is constructed in interview format, with Zinos-Amaro and Swanwick alternating with questions, answers, commentary and reactions. Swanwick has no compunction about talking about the people who influenced him, who he stole from (his words) and precisely what he stole, and his working methods.
I was surprised to find that Swanwick is more of a pantser than a plotter for most of his work. He always impressed me as knowing where he's going, but apparently that was only after struggles to figure out where a story was going. He is willing to put aside work, sometimes for years, until he can figure out what to do with it. He admits to having about forty story fragments on his hard drive that he may or may not finish.
It's interesting to see Zinos-Amaro come up with interpretations that Swanwick never thought of, and admits they may be perfectly valid readings. Swanwick says he is an intuitive writer, and may not know everything he's doing. He was surprised by some of the connections that Zinos-Amaro made.
Swanwick admits that being raised Catholic has influenced his work, in ways he understands and perhaps ways he doesn't. Some major themes revolve around questions of identity (our inner identify versus what we present to the world), reality versus dreams or hallucinatory happenings, and inversions of normalcy. Lately, his Surplus and Darger series involves a couple of con men, gentlemen of the road, who leave devastation behind them as they seek fortune (with a strong hat tip to Fritz Leiber).
Swanwick doesn't seem to have a grand vision, or grand theme he's working towards. He writes whatever he wants, and his magpie mind picks up and uses anything that crosses his path. This makes him continually interesting if frustrating for those who expect to know what a 'Swanwick story' is like. There are few consistencies, perhaps the most reliable one is that he doesn't care for first person narrators and has only used them sparingly. He also feels he is a natural short fiction writer, and writes novels only when he feels he can't write it shorter. Other than that, the sky's the limit on what constitutes a Swanwick story.
And that's the fun part of reading him.
Actually, it might interest readers who like to know what authors think about their work. Some authors refuse to talk about it, saying “the stories speak for themselves.” Not Swanwick. Zinos-Amaro is very knowledgeable about science fiction and fantasy precursors and has read or re-read all of Swanwick's work in preparation for this book. Swanwick grew up devouring SF&F in the 1960s and 70s and became part of the next generation of hot writers in the 1980s. His first published story was in 1980 and he's produced hundreds of stories and flash fictions, plus a number of novels. He read SF&F during a time you could pretty much read everything important in the field.
The book is constructed in interview format, with Zinos-Amaro and Swanwick alternating with questions, answers, commentary and reactions. Swanwick has no compunction about talking about the people who influenced him, who he stole from (his words) and precisely what he stole, and his working methods.
I was surprised to find that Swanwick is more of a pantser than a plotter for most of his work. He always impressed me as knowing where he's going, but apparently that was only after struggles to figure out where a story was going. He is willing to put aside work, sometimes for years, until he can figure out what to do with it. He admits to having about forty story fragments on his hard drive that he may or may not finish.
It's interesting to see Zinos-Amaro come up with interpretations that Swanwick never thought of, and admits they may be perfectly valid readings. Swanwick says he is an intuitive writer, and may not know everything he's doing. He was surprised by some of the connections that Zinos-Amaro made.
Swanwick admits that being raised Catholic has influenced his work, in ways he understands and perhaps ways he doesn't. Some major themes revolve around questions of identity (our inner identify versus what we present to the world), reality versus dreams or hallucinatory happenings, and inversions of normalcy. Lately, his Surplus and Darger series involves a couple of con men, gentlemen of the road, who leave devastation behind them as they seek fortune (with a strong hat tip to Fritz Leiber).
Swanwick doesn't seem to have a grand vision, or grand theme he's working towards. He writes whatever he wants, and his magpie mind picks up and uses anything that crosses his path. This makes him continually interesting if frustrating for those who expect to know what a 'Swanwick story' is like. There are few consistencies, perhaps the most reliable one is that he doesn't care for first person narrators and has only used them sparingly. He also feels he is a natural short fiction writer, and writes novels only when he feels he can't write it shorter. Other than that, the sky's the limit on what constitutes a Swanwick story.
And that's the fun part of reading him.
June 7, 2025
Similarly to the excellent Being Gardner Dozois, where Michael Swanwick interviewed Dozois in a book-length interview about everything he wrote, now the shoe is on the other foot, and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro pulls the same trick on Swanwick!
This book is the culmination of a multi-month project where my friend and I read Dozois's fiction and Being Gardner Dozois, followed by reading multiple Swanwick story collections and then reading Being Michael Swanwick, and it has been well worth the journey!
As an interviewer, Zinos-Amaro is very thorough and insightful, and he handled the historical progression through Swanwick's life and career very well. Not every single story is mentioned by name--his flash fiction series and his Darger & Surplus and Mongolian Wizard series tended to be treated as groups, and I think I noticed a few other items passed by for whatever reason. But when stories were really worth discussing, they went all out, like with "The Edge of the World" getting 5 pages to itself.
This was just an endlessly fascinating book, and some of the themes my friend and I had noticed when reading his fiction got some added nuance that deepened my appreciation (and frankly, explained a few stories that had confused me, to boot!).
Everyone should be reading Swanwick's stuff, and once you do, you should definitely check out this book. I specifically recommend reading Swanwick's two "Best of ..." collections, and then you can branch out from there.
This book is the culmination of a multi-month project where my friend and I read Dozois's fiction and Being Gardner Dozois, followed by reading multiple Swanwick story collections and then reading Being Michael Swanwick, and it has been well worth the journey!
As an interviewer, Zinos-Amaro is very thorough and insightful, and he handled the historical progression through Swanwick's life and career very well. Not every single story is mentioned by name--his flash fiction series and his Darger & Surplus and Mongolian Wizard series tended to be treated as groups, and I think I noticed a few other items passed by for whatever reason. But when stories were really worth discussing, they went all out, like with "The Edge of the World" getting 5 pages to itself.
This was just an endlessly fascinating book, and some of the themes my friend and I had noticed when reading his fiction got some added nuance that deepened my appreciation (and frankly, explained a few stories that had confused me, to boot!).
Everyone should be reading Swanwick's stuff, and once you do, you should definitely check out this book. I specifically recommend reading Swanwick's two "Best of ..." collections, and then you can branch out from there.
January 18, 2024
Michael Swanwick, a highly acclaimed science fiction writer, wrote "Being Gardner Dozois". It was a collection of detailed interviews of that acclaimed science fiction writer. Swanwick asked detailed questions about his stories, his process and his influences. Now Alvaro Zinos-Amaro has given the "Being.." treatment to Michael Swanwick.
It works very well. Swanwick is a very self-conscious author. He is aware of a huge chunk of what came before him in the field and often writes stories that riff on, or work off of, earlier works. He has also thought long and hard about questions like the difference between fantasy and science fiction or the tension between writing for an audience and writing for yourself or trying to balance being a writer and a husband.
Zinos-Amaro discusses with Swanwick pretty much all of Swanwick's short stories in chronological order. There is no description of how the interviews were conducted. Where did they do it? How long was each interview? How much editing was done? Were they taped and transcribed? Was anyone else present? Swanwick discusses very particular details of stories that are forty years old. Did he reread them for the interviews? I would have liked a better picture of how the interviews came into being.
Swanwick is full of good stuff. He is a perfect subject for this type of book because he has well thought out views on a huge variety of issues.
He points out that these days Philip K. Dick is taken too seriously. "We follow the serious ontological approach to him." He says that in writing his short story "The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick", " I wanted to show how much fun Phil Dick could be."
He has a random appreciation of the mystery stories by Emma Lathen. I am a big fan of them.
He uses one of my favorite G. K. Chesterton quotes, "How beautiful Times Square would be for someone who could not read."
At times the book dragged, particularly the detailed discussions of the plot and characters in short stories which I had never read, but there was enough good stuff here to tempt me to keep going.
It works very well. Swanwick is a very self-conscious author. He is aware of a huge chunk of what came before him in the field and often writes stories that riff on, or work off of, earlier works. He has also thought long and hard about questions like the difference between fantasy and science fiction or the tension between writing for an audience and writing for yourself or trying to balance being a writer and a husband.
Zinos-Amaro discusses with Swanwick pretty much all of Swanwick's short stories in chronological order. There is no description of how the interviews were conducted. Where did they do it? How long was each interview? How much editing was done? Were they taped and transcribed? Was anyone else present? Swanwick discusses very particular details of stories that are forty years old. Did he reread them for the interviews? I would have liked a better picture of how the interviews came into being.
Swanwick is full of good stuff. He is a perfect subject for this type of book because he has well thought out views on a huge variety of issues.
He points out that these days Philip K. Dick is taken too seriously. "We follow the serious ontological approach to him." He says that in writing his short story "The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick", " I wanted to show how much fun Phil Dick could be."
He has a random appreciation of the mystery stories by Emma Lathen. I am a big fan of them.
He uses one of my favorite G. K. Chesterton quotes, "How beautiful Times Square would be for someone who could not read."
At times the book dragged, particularly the detailed discussions of the plot and characters in short stories which I had never read, but there was enough good stuff here to tempt me to keep going.
Want to read
November 30, 2023Rec. by: Previous work; Peter T. and Scalzi
December 28, 2023
Michael Swanwick is an American author born in 1950 who has written a dozen novels and hundreds of short stories and essays. Science fiction, fantasy, magic realism and frequently a combination of all three. We can also add flash fiction. Michael Swanwick is a writer with one supercharged imagination.
Being Michael Swanwick - in a series of in-depth interviews covering the author's writing career from 1980 to 2022, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro provides Swanwick fans with oodles of insights into his life and all phases of his creative process and published corpus. Also, and this is an important point I'd like to emphasize, Alvaro's book will appeal to readers, like myself, who are not familiar with Swanwick. Additionally, this volume contains an informative Introduction compliments of Gregory Frost and an up close and personal Afterwards written by Swanwick's wife and leading fan, Marianne Porter.
To share a modest taste of what a reader will encounter when turning the pages, I'll link my comments with a number of juicy Swanwick quotes taken from the interviews. Here goes:
"Samuel R. Delany was a huge influence on me, most particularly the first of his books that I really got into, The Einstein Intersection. He did something that was very clever of him and very useful to me: he put all the literary tricks of the trade he was using right on the surface. You could see them. You could see the way that he was structuring the words and the ideas in ascending or descending sequences. Usually we do that kind of thing and then smooth it over and hide it. He left it out on the surface, so that reading it carefully I learned a lot about how to write, the way that thought can be structured and how clauses can be joined together."
Readers will enjoy Swanwick speaking at length about the various writers who influenced him and what specifically he learned from each writer.
“I love visual art. I cannot draw at all. But when I’m working on a novel I’ll make little drawings of things that are going to appear in it, even of the characters. They’re all dreadful. Ironically, I’m a very visual writer. I have to find a way to express in words what I cannot say in drawings. I visualize how things go.”
A fascinating detail, to be sure. For a writer, an ability to draw imagines isn't necessary; what's needed is the facility to express visual images in words.
“Stan Robinson, and Connie Willis, and Nancy Kress, and so on. They were the stand-in for my audience. People ask if you write to an audience. I’ve never been able to picture what the audience looked like, but these writers were the kind of readers I wanted to impress.”
Another key person who Swanwick wanted to appreciate his writing: his longtime editor and friend, Gardner Dozois. A good number of pages are dedicated to Swanwick's close associating and collaboration with Gardner Dozpois in Philadelphia.
“When you talk to people who really love his (Philip K Dick) fiction, we’ve all got different favorite works. I never met anybody else whose favorite was Galactic Pot Healer.”
Ha! Too bad Michael Swanwick and I never met since Galactic Pot Healer is my absolute favorite of Dick's novels. Michael speaks of specific bizarre scenes and unforgettable robots along with other extraterrestrial life forms. I appreciated all of what Michael speaks of – and, in addition, I especially pick up on the Jungian archetypes.
“What made this interesting to me is that it was a great way to explore whether it’s possible to have free will in a deterministic universe. As I’ve said before, that’s one of those things that concerns me greatly, probably more than it should.”
There's no doubt Michael Swanwick is highly inquisitive and doesn't shy away from the big questions and knotty philosophical conundrums. This to say, he's a thinking person's author. And, as one might expect, a writer Michael returns to again and again - Thomas Pynchon.
“Philadelphia had a mad woman uncharitably called the Duck Lady. She’d make these sounds like a duck quacking and then say, “Hey, Mac, give me twenty bucks!” You’d say “No” and she’d look at you with astonishment. It was a common rumor that someone had seen her being picked up in a limousine at the end of the day, that she was an eccentric old lady who was rich. When she died, it turned
out she was homeless, and these were just myths that had risen up to protect us from the reality.”
Oh, wow! I myself recall seeing the Duck Lady sitting on a bench, quacking, in Rittenhouse Square Park. I particularly enjoy Michael's incisive insights sprinkled throughout the interviews regarding the ways we as humans shield ourselves from a harsh, brutal, chaotic reality.
“With Iain Banks, I’ll admit that I was a fan of the Culture novels but preferred some of his so-called mainstream books. The Wasp Factory and The Bridge were two that knocked me out. They were so different and fresh.”
I've included this quote for two reasons: 1) Citing Iain Banks is an example of just how wide-ranging are Michael's horizons when it comes to books; 2) Like Michael, I also was quite taken by Banks' The Wasp Factory and The Bridge. Check out my reviews of these two extraordinary novels.
“Stories are the most powerful thing in our lives, and often in history. Ronald Regan, for example, ran across a story of a welfare queen who was riding around New York City in a Cadillac. Nobody could locate this welfare queen or even find out exactly where he heard the story. But he heard the story, and believed it, and that’s where a lot of his economic policy came from. A fact is a unit of truth, but a story is a unit of conviction. Once you attach a fact—or a lie—to a story, the fact or lie becomes much more powerful.”
I'm with Michael here. That's why I can't take overly serious, overly judgemental people all that seriously – since, from my experience, they're living completely and totally within the bubble of their own little story.
"Writing is difficult for me. I spend a lot of time not getting anywhere with my fiction. So if I have a good idea, there’s room to play with it, so there’s no reason to strategically put off anything. I have a lot of pieces underway. I have forty or so partially-written stories and when no new ideas come, I start opening files and see if I can coax one to life. If I can’t, I’ll mope around the house. As you know, writing is not a very glamorous life."
Honest and sincere words from a master. Having some issues with your own writing? Take heart! Even a writer like Michael Swanwich must deal with rough patches.
Thank you, Alvaro! You've given us a splendid book.
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, born 1979
December 30, 2023
"Being Michael Swanwick" by Álvaro Zinos-Amaro is a gem of blended literary exploration and oral biography. The book provides in-depth analysis of its subject via a series of genuinely insightful and entertaining interviews. The author manages to get to the essence of what makes Swanwick's work resonate so deeply with readers and critics. Definitely recommended for Swanwick fans and anyone interested in the craft of science fiction storytelling.
May 2, 2025
A must for fans of Michael Swanwick and for authors wanting to learn about the craft of writing short stories from the best in the business. Swanwick provides analysis for all of his published stories. He does not touch on his novels or mentions them only briefly. He is engaging and very clear on what does or does not work in his stories.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews