MZD Interviews

**benedict** · 08-30-2006, 01:01 PM

Has anyone seen this yet?

http://mlinterviews.blogspot.com/

Mark Z. Danielewski
by Ian Cruz
August 25, 2006

1.

of Leaves has had to be the most abstract/artsy book I've read in the sense of the layout of the book. What can we expect from Only Revolutions in the layout of the book?

Narrow and wide. Always rightsideup though you sometimes have to turn the book upsidedown. Green, gold and violet. Brash, bold and violent. A möbius strip. A highway of words. Spring on the run.

That's all.

2. Where do you find your inspiration to write this book?

There were two teenagers I came across years ago. Homeless, parentless, incredibly impudent. They had nothing going for them but they still said they were gonna have it all. They were divinely in love with each other. They looked after each other, cared for each other, watched over each other. Some folks I spoke with claimed they eventually pulled their lives together and got jobs. Others said they took off across the country. Others heard they'd even gotten married. (And maybe they were talking about the two I knew. Or maybe they were talking about some other wandering teenagers. Or maybe we were all talking about gods.) The only thing I know for sure is that one day I walked by the corner where they used to hang out begging for change and they were gone. Long gone. Like they'd never been there to begin with.

3. What was it that made you want to become a writer, and when did you start writing?

I don't really know. It all happened long before I was born.

4. How much research do you put into your writing?

I don't research at all.

5. Is there any music you listen to while writing, and if so let's hear what you're listening to?

Anything and everything my sister Poe has written or happens to be working on. And right now I'm listening to an advance copy of Danny Elfman's SERENADA SCHIZOPHRANA out in October.

Add to that this morning's Billie Holiday, Bach, Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT, Earl Hines, Chris Cornell's overlooked EUPHORIA MORNING, Nino Rota, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Bruce Springsteen's "Reno" on DEVILS & DUST, Tool's 10,000 DAYS and we're not even starting to get there.

6. Have you ever thought of releasing your own "On Writing" type of book?

Didn't I do that with HOUSE OF LEAVES?

7. Has there been any talk to release more copies of The Fifty Year Sword or to have it published along with other short stories?

Not so far. At some point though I'd like to record an audio version of T50YS with five performers. Maybe put it out there on Halloween. We'll see.

8. Who is one of your favorite characters that you created?

I love them all though they don't all love me.

9. What are a few of your favorite books/authors?

Lewis Hyde's TRICKSTER MAKES THIS WORLD. Georgio Agamben's THE OPEN. Jorie Graham's EROSION. Celeste Langan's ROMANTIC VAGRANCY. David Mitchell's CLOUD ATLAS. Sarah Vowell's ASSASSINATION VACATION. Ian McEwan's ATONEMENT. Thomas Pynchon. Cormac McCarthy. Brad Telford. Gary Trudeau. Bill Watterson.

10.

of Leaves was said to have taken 10 years to finish. With that being said, how long did it take you to write Only Revolutions?

6 years.

11. How would you describe Only Revolutions in your own words?

Fast. Exterior. Impatient. A world without homes. Without schools. Without ancestors or progeny. Without the word "in" or "or". Without even light. Where love submits to all and vanquishes all as it explores the true terror of freedom and time and speed.

12. In a previous interview you said that the film rights to

of Leaves were not for sale. Do you feel that there is no need for a film, or that a film based on this book in particular just wouldn't be possible and if made it wouldn't have the same feel as the book did? Would you ever consider selling the rights to any of your other works?

I don't think I follow. HOUSE OF LEAVES is about a movie and Only Revolutions is already a movie.

13. In music today, bands usually have a strong debut album and when it comes around to their sophomore release they have what is known as a "slump". Do you think the same could be said about authors today, and if so do you fear the thought of possibly getting a "slump" yourself?

Hailey & Sam are both sixteen. I imagine that makes them sophomores. Why don't you ask them if they're slumping. But be careful, I hear they're extremely dangerous.

Last Question:
What is your favorite thing about writing?

I'm chained to my desk and I'm utterly free.
posted by Mesa Love at 8:06 PM

**Ellimist** · 08-30-2006, 01:20 PM

That is fantastic.

**katatonic** · 08-30-2006, 01:30 PM

6. Have you ever thought of releasing your own "On Writing" type of book?

Didn't I do that with HOUSE OF LEAVES?

Haha.

**modiFIed** · 08-30-2006, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by MZD

Only Revolutions is already a movie.

I KNEW IT! Ha.

Thanks again, Popeymon. You're full of surprises.

**MicheleVR5** · 08-30-2006, 04:53 PM

It was posted to his MySpace blog, along with a Q&A from Powell's that doesn't seem to be on their site yet.

**benedict** · 08-31-2006, 06:08 AM

Originally Posted by modiFIed

I KNEW IT! Ha.

Thanks again, Popeymon. You're full of surprises.

Anytime, Modi-mon.

**Raminagrobis** · 09-02-2006, 02:47 PM

Only Revolutions is already a movie.

Originally Posted by modiFIed

I KNEW IT! Ha.

At the risk of taking this statement too literally, I must say that I did wonder, when I came across the 'Badlands' reference in the blurb, not to mention the 'Natural Born Killers' allusion on p. 228, whether those films were significant influences in the writing of this book. Unless I am much mistaken, though, there is no reference to 'Wild at Heart' - which would, to my mind, complete the Holy Trinity of teen-couple-on-a rampage flicks. (yes, I'm sure there are others, but I really love 'Wild at Heart').

**murasamune** · 09-10-2006, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by benedict

Has anyone seen this yet?

2. Where do you find your inspiration to write this book?

There were two teenagers I came across years ago. Homeless, parentless, incredibly impudent. They had nothing going for them but they still said they were gonna have it all. They were divinely in love with each other. They looked after each other, cared for each other, watched over each other. Some folks I spoke with claimed they eventually pulled their lives together and got jobs. Others said they took off across the country. Others heard they'd even gotten married. (And maybe they were talking about the two I knew. Or maybe they were talking about some other wandering teenagers. Or maybe we were all talking about gods.) The only thing I know for sure is that one day I walked by the corner where they used to hang out begging for change and they were gone. Long gone. Like they'd never been there to begin with.

posted by Mesa Love at 8:06 PM

probably the most straightforward answer. aside from the ones about real things like music and books he's read.

**MicheleVR5** · 09-14-2006, 12:21 PM

There is a pretty pretty video interview to watch over at Expanded Books. I have very limited bandwidth at work, so I don't really want to load another of their vids for other books, but I can't imagine how they can live up to

' video. If you have not seen the book in person yet, or even if you have, you'll be floating around in it with this vid. (higher quality)

While I'm here, the LA Times interview belongs in this thread, not the OR review thread...

**MicheleVR5** · 09-16-2006, 07:30 AM

Mark loses his car with the LA Alternative

Maybe this thread can be moved to Links?

**MicheleVR5** · 09-21-2006, 05:41 AM

This long LA City Beat interview was posted to our blog.

**benedict** · 09-21-2006, 06:33 AM

Originally Posted by MicheleVR5

This long LA City Beat interview was posted to our blog.

thanks, i'll have to pick up a hard copy later today.

**MicheleVR5** · 09-21-2006, 07:23 AM

Get one fer me!

(Please?)

**catchtherain** · 09-21-2006, 07:26 AM

there's one on sg that i don't think has been linked yet. it's at http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Mark+Z.+Danielewski/

**MicheleVR5** · 09-21-2006, 07:52 AM

Wow, that one's really personal. Thanks for posting it!

**Slow Dog Noodle** · 09-21-2006, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by LA City Beat

Danielewski (pronounced “Danielefski”)-...

Huh?

I've been refering to him as Daniel"oo"ski.

Is this another one of those Favre Farve things or can ew=f?

**modiFIed** · 09-21-2006, 09:44 AM

Sounds like a Polish thing, in which case it's the W that has the fricative--actually should be closer to a V sound--and the E is just rendered short.

Can I say that on a family forum?

**marsjams13** · 09-21-2006, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by modiFIed

Can I say that on a family forum?

Certainly. What family forum do you frequent?

**MicheleVR5** · 09-21-2006, 11:51 AM

San Francisco Chronicle

The woman in the Expanded Books interview says Mark's last name properly if you want to hear it.

**benedict** · 09-21-2006, 12:16 PM

speaking of mark's name, i just realised that i have no idea what the "Z" stands for. it is probably mentioned somewhere, but what does mark Z. danielewski's middle initial stand for?

**catchtherain** · 09-21-2006, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by benedict

speaking of mark's name, i just realised that i have no idea what the "Z" stands for. it is probably mentioned somewhere, but what does mark Z. danielewski's middle initial stand for?

he won't say. someone asked at the reading here and he said he couldn't tell us.

**benedict** · 09-21-2006, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by MicheleVR5

Get one fer me!

(Please?)

no problem. if you PM me your address, i will send it to you.

**hello?** · 09-23-2006, 08:20 AM

me too?

I'll even send you something cool in return. Probably.

**benedict** · 09-23-2006, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by hello?

me too?

I'll even send you something cool in return. Probably.

okay, i picked up a couple of extras just in case. PM me your address.

**MicheleVR5** · 10-07-2006, 08:04 AM

KCRW's Bookworm from October 5

(some snark on the interviewer)

**benedict** · 11-02-2006, 08:15 PM

here's one i just came across:

POSTED ON 21/10/06

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS 2006

Imagine M.C. Escher writing a novel
Now imagine trying to read it. Author Mark Z. Danielewski tells MARK MEDLEY that his unique books are not exactly beach reading
MARK MEDLEY

When author Mark Z. Danielewski was young, his father, avant-garde filmmaker Tad Z. Danielewski, would gather the family in the basement for screenings of old 16mm movies. Between reel changes, a responsibility which fell to Mark, his father would lead elaborate discussions of the film: what had happened, how it was shot and all the choices the director had made in its creation.

"He was constantly illuminating the amount of choices that are made when making a movie, writing a book, painting something," says Danielewski (pronounced Daniel-eff-ski) from Los Angeles, where he lives.

Choice. It's a word vital to reading and understanding the work of Danielewski. Not simply choices of plot or character, but the font, the colour, the way the words are printed on the page, even the folio. Maybe then it's natural that what the father did with film the son is doing with the novel. The novel is dead? Think again. Mark Z. Danielewski's work is a testament to what the novel can do.

He debuted in 2000 with the best-selling (and now cult-classic)

of Leaves. A labyrinthine postmodern take on the ghost story, the novel took Danielewski the best part of a decade to finish.

His new novel, Only Revolutions, is garnering rave reviews and even drawing Danielewski comparisons to James Joyce. All for a project he originally thought would take him a year: "I didn't really realize how vast [Only Revolutions] would end up being."

Vast is an understatement. It's epic prose poetry, recalling Homer thrown in a blender with Pynchon, Vonnegut and Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Imagine M.C. Escher writing a novel. Flipping through its pages, one might think it was penned by someone committed to an asylum. It looks daunting, but the 40-year-old author doesn't worry about turning-off potential readers.

He's not writing for the beach.

"If you just want a really easy read, go to the airport. There's plenty of stuff out there," he says. "It's kind of extreme lit: It's for those people who want to free-climb a cliff or go for a triathlon. There needs to be work out there that's written for people who want to challenge their minds and go for something a little heavier or heartier or more complex."

Only Revolutions follows Hailey and Sam, two 16-year-olds on a road trip across America and time, spanning from Nov. 22, 1863 to Jan. 19, 2063. The novel is split in two: Hailey and Sam each recount their own version of the story.

The author draws his characters from real life: Sam and Hailey are the literary manifestations of teenage panhandlers Danielewski once saw, and the filmmaker Will Navidson in

of Leaves is obviously influenced by Danielewski's father.

As important as the story is the book itself. Danielewski's books are more like sculptures. Take

of Leaves: The novel featured pages printed backwards that had to be read in a mirror; words serpentine-like in the way they angled on the page; pages featuring only one word; hidden code in the text; and a mountain of footnotes that would make even David Foster Wallace blush.

Only Revolutions is equal to its predecessor. Pantheon gave Danielewski free reign on the design and layout of the book. The detail is mind-bending. It uses no fewer than eight different fonts. The first page of Sam's story is the last page of Hailey's and vice versa. There are two bookmarks (green for Sam, yellow for Hailey) built into the spine so readers don't get lost. A history of the past 150 years is printed in the margins. All the O's are coloured. Even the page numbers circle 360 degrees as you flip the pages.

"Sam and Hailey are all about discovering freedom," he says. "So for me, perhaps a bit like Houdini, the more I chained the manuscript the more I could wrestle with the meaning of freedom, of how to overcome those chains and ideally transcend those limitations."

Even the way one reads the novel is a choice left to readers. While the publisher suggests reading eight pages on Sam's side, flipping the book then reading eight pages on Hailey's side, there is no right way to read the book.

Turning each page, you physically grow closer to the point where their two narratives merge as one, before they begin to grow apart.

"I also saw in that relationship how a book could capture their relationship," he says, "whereby they started on opposite ends and then slowly as you move through the book flipping alternately back and forth . . . they would eventually meet in the middle where they would finally be equal. They would see each other in the same light, and then you would actually physically experience their relationship coming apart."

For the penultimate draft, Danielewski spent a month creating an intricate map so he could see how all the pages would line up against the timeline, codifying what he'd developed over the previous two years.

Considering all the planning and storyboarding put into the books, and his background in film, Danielewski doesn't want his work adapted for the screen.

"We get about 300 offers a year [for

of Leaves] and I'm not interested," he says. "If there was a way of doing it on the fly with something like YouTube or something like that, that becomes interesting because there's a flexibility there." He says he would be open to a staged version of the book or even a musical. (Toronto's Fringe Festival did stage Minotaur, a play "inspired" by

of Leaves, this summer.)

In an interview in 2000 after the release of

of Leaves, Danielewski answered a question with "If I ever write again." He laughs when asked about it.

"It's a lot like, I'm just finished this triathlon and someone says, 'Well, are you going to run another one tomorrow?' and I'm still heaving my guts out," he says. "You can end this article by saying 'If I ever write again.' "

So, is he writing again? "I'm working on trying to figure out how to have a vacation."

Mark Z. Danielewski will be in conversation with Jonathan Safran Foer in the Lakeside Terrace at Harbourfront Centre at 1 p.m. today, and reading at 4 p.m. in the Brigantine Room alongside Alon Hilu, Marisha Pessel and Colson Whitehead.

(did anyone catch Minotaur, the play "inspired" by

of Leaves, this summer at the Toronto's Fringe Festival?)

**Richardus** · 11-05-2006, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by MicheleVR5

This long LA City Beat interview was posted to our blog.

that one's awesome. wow. thanks :)

**MicheleVR5** · 11-12-2006, 08:34 PM

Drinks with Tony
the bat segundo show

**Rinehart** · 11-13-2006, 04:28 PM

I was happy to see that in the bat segundo interview MZD explains that the book came to him allatonce (like a "lightning bolt," he says). I'm not sure I believe him, but MZD has always been one for mythologizing himself and his work, and his claim jives well with how I read the book.

I was, however, disappointed to hear that MZD hadn't heard of or read Gene Wolfe. The interviewer made the connection between MZD's and Wolfe's reappropriation of archaic, extinct vocabulary. And I had assumed that MZD's use of plants and animals was directly influenced by Wolfe's use of them in his Book of the Long Sun and Book of the Short Sun. Just goes to show, Gene Wolfe continues to be the best unread living author.