Wednesday, October 6, 2010

THE FALSE FRIEND: AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND BONUS ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE FALSE FRIEND
BY MYLA GOLDBERG

REMINDER...ABOUT THE BOOK:

From the bestselling author of Bee Season comes an astonishingly complex psychological drama with a simple setup: two eleven-year-old girls, best friends and fierce rivals, go into the woods. Only one comes out . . .

Leaders of a mercurial clique of girls, Celia and Djuna reigned mercilessly over their three followers. One after­noon, they decided to walk home along a forbidden road. Djuna disappeared, and for twenty years Celia blocked out how it happened.

The lie Celia told to conceal her misdeed became the accepted truth: everyone assumed Djuna had been abducted, though neither she nor her abductor was ever found. Celia’s unconscious avoidance of this has meant that while she and her longtime boyfriend, Huck, are professionally successful, they’ve been unable to move forward, their relationship falling into a rut that threatens to bury them both.

Celia returns to her hometown to confess the truth, but her family and childhood friends don’t believe her. Huck wants to be supportive, but his love can’t blind him to all that contra­dicts Celia’s version of the past.

Celia’s desperate search to understand what happened to Djuna has powerful consequences. A deeply resonant and emotionally charged story, The False Friend explores the adults that children become—leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, as well as the lies to which we succumb.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MYLA GOLDBERG is the author of the bestselling Bee Season, which was named a New York Times Notable Book in 2000 and made into a film, and, most recently, of Time's Magpie, a book of essays about Prague. Her short stories have appeared in Harper's and McSweeney's and on Failbetter.com. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:


1. Welcome, Myla Goldberg, to BOOKIN' WITH BINGO. I am so excited you are here as I had wanted to read THE FALSE FRIEND from the first time I saw something about it. Do you think you can tell us a little about yourself and where my readers might look to find out more about you?


I’ve wanted to be a writer since at least second grade. When I was little, I used to sit at an electronic typewriter and pretend I was writing a novel. I graduated from Oberlin College, where I majored in English. After that, I lived in Prague for a year, where I split my time between writing and teaching ESL--but mostly writing, because in the early ‘90s, Prague was a ridiculously inexpensive place for an American to live. When I returned to the States, I moved to New York City, where I variously worked for a literary agent, as a production assistant for a movie, and as a freelance reader for television movies. I liked that last job the best because it gave me the most time for my own work. I quit it when Bee Season started doing well, and since then I’ve split my time between writing and serving as a migrant adjunct at various MFA programs around the city.
You can find all sorts of additional info, including bio stuff, at www.mylagoldberg.com.

2. Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book?

About ten years ago, I remembered this girl who I’d sometimes been mean to in elementary school. We were both pretty socially marginal (i.e. we were nerds; not the cool kind), so we clung to each other and battled each other with equal vehemence, each of us secretly seeing the other as an impediment to our own popularity. Until remembering this, I’d retained all sorts of memories of when I’d been bullied, but I’d forgotten the occasions when I’d been a bully myself. I became intrigued by the idea that my memory had been so selective. When I tracked the friend down to apologize, she told me that she didn’t remember me doing anything particularly nasty, but that she knew she’d been pretty awful back then, and hoped that I’d forgive her, so we parted mutually forgiven and unsure of exactly what we were forgiving the other for. Nothing from my experience was remotely close to the scale of what happens in The False Friend, but that’s what makes writing fiction so much more fun than sticking to the truth.

3. How did the title of your book come about?

It just kind of came to me. Naming stuff, whether it’s a book or a character, is a pretty intuitive and visceral process.

4. Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?

I see at least some small part of myself in the majority of my characters. The most difficult characters to write are the ones for whom that isn’t the case, as the route to empathy and understanding is a bit more challenging. A character written without empathy is about as engaging as a sock puppet.

5. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?

There are so many different starting outs to choose from! The work of Roald Dahl and Judy Blume featured hugely in my early reading life, plus there were these two individual books, Bridge to Terabithea, and The Cay, which still exist intact in my reading memory. From there, it was a lot about Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen King, with On the Beach making a pretty big cameo appearance. By the end of high school, I’d discovered J.D. Salinger and Milan Kundera, and in college I was blown away by Vladimir Nabokov, Donald Barthleme, and Jeanette Winterson.

I’m currently reading Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad.

6. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?

I have no idea! I’m totally monomaniacal when I write. I pour myself 
utterly into the thing I’m working on, which means that when I finish I’m pretty much just an empty shell of my former self. Right now I’m reading and wandering about in order to start the process of getting filled up again.

7. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

I have a prehensile tail! Okay, I don’t really have a prehensile tail, but wouldn’t it be cool if I did?

8. What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

Write as much as you can, as often as you can, and for as long as you can. When you’re not doing that, read.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ADRIENNE AND THE GREAT
FOLKS AT RANDOM HOUSE, I HAVE TEN
COPIES OF "THE FALSE FRIEND" TO
GIVE TO TEN LUCKY READERS!

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY:
COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT "THE FALSE FRIEND" OR THE AUTHOR BY VISITING MYLA'S WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY:
"LIKE" MYLA GOLDBERG ON FACEBOOK HERE AND COME BACK TO LET ME KNOW


+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU VISITED MY FIRST POST AND REVIEW OF "THE FALSE FRIEND" HERE AND GIVE ONE OF THE NUMBERS OF YOUR COMMENTS. REMEMBER, I READ AND MODERATE ALL MY COMMENTS SO IF YOURS ISN'T POSTED YET, COME BACK WHEN IT IS. I DO THAT SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS
6 PM, EST,
OCTOBER 20!
GOOD LUCK


35 comments:

Ruthie said...

I love that she went & found the person she thought she bullied in school to apologize.

ruthiekb72@yahoo.com

Ruthie said...

Previous comments are # 51 & 52

ruthiekb72@yahoo.com

Margie said...

Liked Myla's Official Fan Page on Facebook
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

Margie said...

comment number 43
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

traveler said...

I find this novel captivating and compelling. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

traveler said...

Comment # 25. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

petite said...

This book is certainly thought provoking so it appeals to me greatly. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com

petite said...

Comment #23 in previous post. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

I think it's interesting that Myla plays both the banjo and the accordian.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

One of my comments on the original giveaway post is number 54. Thanks!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

DarcyO said...

It's interesting that she wrote Bee Season in Prague.

dlodden at frontiernet dot net

DarcyO said...

I like Myla on FB (but your link didn't work for me).

dlodden at frontiernet dot net

Linda Kish said...

She sings and plays accordion and banjo in the Brooklyn art-punk band, The Walking Hellos.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

DarcyO said...

One of my comments is #4 on the original post.

dlodden at frontiernet dot net

Linda Kish said...

Since I just entered the other comments they are not showing up yet. It looks like 61 & 62 maybe.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

debbie said...

I learned she spent a year in prague.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

debbie said...

I commented in 1,2,3 on the other post.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

Tea said...

I loved the whole interview with Myla Goldberg. Most interesting to me is how our memories can differ as adults looking back on our childhood. It's amazing, the human memory.

teakettle58(at)yahoo(dot)com

Tea said...

I liked Myla Goldberg on Facebook. If you need my Facebook name, it's Leola Harris.

Unknown said...

I think its pretty neat she wanted to write since second grade. Please enter me in contest. Sounds like a really good book. Tore923@aol.com

Laura said...

The synopsis of this book is so interesting. I am dying to read this.
Laura
laura.leahj@gmail.com

Tea said...

I'll give the #18 comment.

g.g. said...

I like that the website has a unique look to it and found out about her writing BEE SEASON

anjamie4 AT gmail DOT com

g.g. said...

I liked Myla on FB

anjamie4 AT gmail DOT com

Anonymous said...

I learned on her website that Myla Goldberg is an award winning author. Her book Bee Season was a New York Times Notable Book for 2000, winner of the Borders New Voices Prize, and a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN award.
peacelily_2006(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

One of my comments on the first post is # 38.
peacelily_2006(at)yahoo(dot)com

bison61 said...

interesting-this explores the adults that children become

tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com

bison61 said...

comment #69

tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com

hendy said...

I learned that Myla has also written an essay collection and a children’s book.
hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com

Benita said...

I love her website; it is quite unique. And what a lovely tour and events to come.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Benita said...

I commented on the original post, but my comments are still awaiting moderation. I assume the number is 82 or around there.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Carol M said...

I think it is interesting that she sings and plays accordion and banjo in the Brooklyn art-punk band, The Walking Hellos.
mittens0831 at aol dot com

Laura H. said...

I see that Ms. Goldberg is not only a writer but a musician who plays the accordian and banjo. What a talented person!

BornajhawkATaolDOTcom

Laura H. said...

"Liked" Ms. Goldberg on FB (even though the link did not work) at Laura Grassie Henderson.

BornajhawkATaolDOTcom

Laura H. said...

I visited your first post and review of "The False Friend" and left comment #86.

BornajhawkATaolDOTcom

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