Show Notes
Matt kicks things off with his take on Shane Gillis’s SNL monologue, the state of comedy, and his growing suspicion that America has developed a soft spot for mediocrity.
Then acclaimed novelist Catherine Lacey joins the show for a conversation about the strange power of fiction, adapting her novel Pew into an opera, and her adventures writing a comedy film. Catherine reflects on turning 40, her writing process and what keeps her coming back to the page. Plus, ghostly encounters in Mexico, her favorite books and why she hopes the Southern accent never disappears.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Shane Gillis monologue and modern comedy mediocrity
00:04:12 Catherine Lacey and reading the New Yorker fiction podcast
00:08:18 Book promotion, writing as a job, and stage anxiety
00:12:30 Airplane hijackings and writing a novel about real crime
00:16:30 Tupelo upbringing, religious kid, and early writing ideas
00:20:45 Shakespeare camp, boarding school, and granddad's savings
00:25:30 Religion in fiction and adapting Pew into an opera
00:30:45 Writing plays, a new novel, and pivoting to comedy
00:35:10 Grad school workshop memories with top journalists
00:39:45 Personal exposure in novels and bad TV interviews
00:44:15 Learning Spanish, crying in class, and the limits of foreign humor
00:48:15 The power of fiction and foreign author recommendations
00:53:10 Political splits, ghosts in Oaxaca, and southern accents
Topics:
Hermit crab writing process and novel drafting isolation
Book tour burnout versus working commercial kitchen shifts
Childhood evangelical upbringing in Tupelo Mississippi
Shakespeare camp experience with teacher Shaq Van Duzen
Hardware store savings funding boarding school education
Historical perspective on 1970s Mexican plane hijackings
Adapting the novel Pew into a French opera libretto
Co-writing a feature comedy screenplay in Mexico City
Unlearning New York stress and turning 40 in Mexico
Why life is not personal, philosophy in literary fiction
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