Alexander Sammartino

Alexander Sammartino lives in Brooklyn. He received his MFA from Syracuse University.

His new novel is Last Acts.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

A good amount, I think. It establishes a mood, a feeling.

What's in a name?

Oh, so much. Theories about naming—like Kripke’s idea that the meaning of a name is identical to its referent, or Frege’s notion that there’s some abstract sense a name also refers to—have long fascinated me. When writing, I try to take each opportunity for a name as its own situation. Sometimes I might choose a name to create a sense of geographic or historical realism, and, other times, I might choose something that sounds poetic or funny to call extra attention to that character or that location. The names all depend on how they fit into what’s happening in the story, the context.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings, definitely. For me, that’s where all of the pressure is. If the beginning does not work, there will be no ending, because a good ending comes naturally if the beginning has been logically pursued. The beginning is overwhelming because the logic does not exist yet. You have to start, somehow, even when there are so many possibilities. I’ll constantly change an opening, constantly revise an opening. I also know for me, as a reader, I can forgive a bad ending, but a bad beginning? I’ll drop a book if I’m not intrigued by the first paragraph.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I do, I do, and I wish there was less. I feel like a narcissist sometimes, but what can you do? I know there are people who say you have little control over the story you tell, over what you’re obsessed with, and the emotions of my characters, many of which I experience, are something I want to examine. Robert Bresson said his films were driven by what he wanted his viewers to feel. If I think my own particular emotional experience might seem worth analyzing, it can be the inspiration around which to construct a scene.

Visit Alexander Sammartino's website.

The Page 69 Test: Last Acts.

--Marshal Zeringue