Monday, January 14, 2008

Jami Attenberg

Jami Attenberg is the author of the story collection Instant Love and the novel The Kept Man. She has written for Jane, Salon, Nylon, Print, the San Francisco Chronicle, Entertainment Weekly, and Time Out New York, and her fiction has appeared in Nerve, Pindeldyboz, Spork, and Bullfight Review.

From her interview with SmokeLong Quarterly:

You are the author of two books — INSTANT LOVE and THE KEPT MAN. Which form — the short-short, the short story, the novel—do you feel you have greater mastery of?

Well I don't think I have a mastery of either at this point in my life, but I would say I prefer to write short stories because they are more relaxing and instantly gratifying. I can do one quickly and easily, and then put it out in the world and hopefully give people a brief bit of pleasure in their day. I write fast, and that can mean something in the short story world, but no matter how quickly my fingers fly on the keyboard, novels will always be a huge time investment. And while there is a great pride at the end of the novel process, and then another hit of joy two years later when it is finally released, it is perhaps not as fulfilling. Talk to me after I write a couple more novels though, and I might feel differently.
The Page 69 Test: The Kept Man.

--Marshal Zeringue