{"id":250,"date":"2023-09-16T09:45:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T09:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=250"},"modified":"2023-09-16T09:45:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T09:45:45","slug":"lone-star-listens-ben-fountains-long-walk-to-literary-recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=250","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Listens: Ben Fountain’s Long Walk to Literary Recognition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ben Fountain, author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara<\/em> (Ecco Press<\/em>, 2006; Harper Perennial <\/em>2007) and Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/em> (Ecco Press<\/em>, 2012), has received the PEN\/Hemingway Award, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award for Fiction, a Whiting Writers Award, an O. Henry Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, and two Texas Institute of Letters Short Story Awards, among other honors and awards. His fiction has been published in Harper’s,<\/span> The <\/em>Paris Review, Zoetrope: All-Story<\/em>,<\/span> and Stories from the South: The Year’s Best<\/em>. <\/span>He lives in Dallas.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In putting together our ten all-time favorite Texas football titles, we came across one book that we all agreed had to be on the list\u2014<\/span>Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk <\/em>by Ben Fountain.<\/span> However, to call this novel a book about football would be like describing <\/span>Billy Lee Brammer\u2019s <\/span>The Gay Place<\/em> as only about politics or <\/span>Larry McMurtry\u2019s<\/span> The Last Picture Show<\/span><\/em> as solely about dwindling small towns.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/span><\/em> is a mirror that reflects the Iraq War era, and when we looked into it, we didn\u2019t always like what we saw. Like all defining works, this biting satire stopped readers in their tracks and caused them to reevaluate all the memes about war, patriotism, commercialism, and yes, football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Fountain\u2019s personal story is as compelling as his novel. In 1988 he quit his day job as a lawyer to become a writer and stay-at-home dad. When the writing started to pay off he was going to renovate his garage and turn it into a writing space. Day after day, he wrote. Short stories. Articles. Manuscripts. Twenty-four years later his first novel was published, and it became a National Book Award finalist for fiction. We understand that the garage has now been renovated.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Fountain shared his story with Lone Star Listens via a series of emailed questions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: In 1988, when you were thirty, you quit practicing law and devoted yourself to being a writer and a stay-at-home father when your wife made partner with her law firm. How long had you had the longing to spend your life as a writer?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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BEN FOUNTAIN<\/a><\/u>: <\/strong>Well, I\u2019m not sure I was \u201clonging\u201d to be a writer; it was more a sense of, I\u2019ll never have any peace in myself unless I make a serious effort to do this kind of work. Gore Vidal called it \u201cthe curse,\u2019 this compulsion or need to write fiction. In a sense you don\u2019t really have a choice, if it\u2019s powerful in you. Or I suppose you do have a choice; you can go off and try to live that mainstream, respectable, nine-to-five life, but you\u2019ll probably go crazy doing it. I certainly was.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Your first book, Brief Encounters with Che Guevera<\/em>,<\/span> a collection of short stories, was not published until 2006. Critics praised it as masterful, and then Malcolm Gladwell documented you as a genius in a 2008 New Yorker<\/em> article, \u201cLate Bloomers.\u201d How did Gladwell become aware of your work and decide that you epitomized a \u201clate bloomer?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Gladwell knew a friend of mine named Katherine Taylor, whom I had the pleasure of publishing in Southwest Review<\/span><\/em> when I was fiction editor there (that was one of her first published stories; she\u2019s since gone on to publish two very fine novels with Farrar, Straus & Giroux). She gave him Brief Encounters<\/em>,<\/span> and once he found out how ridiculously old I was, he decided he had his contemporary half of the \u201clate-bloomer\u201d equation. For a long time he\u2019d been wanting to write about early genius vs. late bloomer, and had his classic paradigm with Picasso vs. Cezanne. Then I came along to serve as the latter-day match for Jonathan Safran Foer.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Your first novel, Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/em>, <\/span>was published in 2012\u2014twenty-four years after you devoted your life to being a writer. Did you ever feel like buying voodoo dolls of the twenty-something whiz kids right out of MFA programs who get great book deals? How did you keep yourself motivated through all the years of rejection and revision?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The first few years I think my motivation mainly consisted of fantasy and delusion \u2014 that is, if I worked hard, then after a certain number of years I would break through and get published in the New Yorker<\/em>, get a big book contract, be a big success and all that. Over the course of all the years of that NOT happening, I had to realign my focus in a more realistic \u2014 dare I say more mature? \u2014 way. I had to lose all the \u201csuccess\u201d fantasies and focus on the work itself, and take pleasure and satisfaction in whatever improvement I detected in my work. At a certain point I suppose I got pretty zen about it all. I concentrated on the work, and just didn’t think about being a “success” anymore. This was zen by necessity, I guess; I had to get that way, otherwise I would have quit writing and gone off to business school or something.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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As for the tyros from the MFA programs who get big deals out of the gate, more power to them, if they’re doing good work. I wouldn’t wish my stumbling career path on anybody.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Who gave you your first break, and how did it change your life?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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A very fine man and writer named Mark Danner. He took an interest in a short story I wrote set in Haiti, and connected me to some former colleagues of his at Harper\u2019s Magazine<\/em>.<\/span> A longtime editor there named Charis Conn decided to publish it. That was my first story in a national magazine, and because of it I got the agent I\u2019ve had for the past fifteen years, Heather Schroder, who\u2019s the best in the business.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/span><\/em> was a finalist for the National Book Award. When did you feel that you were going to be able to have the kind of career that you had always wanted as a writer?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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At this point it\u2019s probably too late for me to have the career I always wanted. I\u2019m too slow, it takes me too long to figure things out, to the extent I ever figure them out. I\u2019d love to be the kind of writer who comes out with a good novel or story collection every two or three years. By now I would have a whole shelf of books out there, if I had the kind of career I wanted. So I\u2019m making do with the career I\u2019ve got, such as it is.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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There are some who would say that you helped put Dallas on the literary map. Now there seems to be a burgeoning Dallas literary scene with you, Merritt Tierce, Kathleen Kent, Harry Hunsicker, among others, and the Dallas Noir anthology that literary agent David Hale Smith edited. What makes Dallas fertile literary ground, and how would you describe the Dallas literary scene?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I think it’s mostly coincidence when these things happen, at least in this case: a certain cohort of good writers happened to come along at the same time in this general area, for no particular reason that I can see. It\u2019s not like SMU or some other writing program has developed a pipeline that\u2019s cranking out good writers here. But it\u2019s a lot more fun this way, having other writers around, people who take the work seriously, but themselves not so much. And in a city like Dallas, where money and commerce are supreme, you aren\u2019t going to hold yourself out as a writer unless you really mean it. Unlike a place like, say, Brooklyn, where you might get some street cred for saying you\u2019re a writer; in Dallas it just doesn’t compute. Not much place for poser writers here.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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A big part of your writing experience were your numerous trips to Haiti. What drew you to Haiti, and how did your experiences there change you as a writer?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t really give a rational explanation for why I started going to Haiti, except to say I think it came out of some vague instinct that there was something in that place I needed to engage with and try to understand. A different reality, maybe \u2014 a reality much different from that of a white, middle-class, middle-aged husband and father of two living in suburban North Dallas. I suppose I was testing myself, on one level; on another level, I was embarking on this project of trying to understand how the world works in terms of power, politics, race, money \u2014 all the big systems that control so much of our lives. It seemed to me Haiti was the paradigm and boiling point for a lot of that; still is. In terms of writing, whatever understanding of life I bring to the work, Haiti\u2019s probably made me much more attuned to the complexity of experience. Things are rarely what they seem. You have to think, ponder, explore, take risks. You have to put in the time to understand something.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Why do you think there has been such growth in creative writing MFA programs? You\u2019ve taught writing, how much do you think is inherent in aspiring writers, and how much can be learned?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I think the growth of MFA programs is a great thing. We have schools for everything else \u2014 for business, law, medicine, hair implants, etc. Why not schools whose purpose is to teach clear seeing and clear expression? Because that\u2019s what good writing is, seeing things for what they are, and finding the language that accurately captures the experience. I think certain basic things can be taught, in the sense that maybe a good teacher, or good peers, can save you some time by pointing out obvious errors. In my case, for so many years I skimmed along the surface in my own writing, was too lazy or dim to engage in the real emotional heart of whatever story I was writing. A good teacher would have called me out on that pretty quickly. On the other hand, I think 93% of what you learn about this kind of work, you have to learn on your own. The main thing is sitting your butt down in the chair and making the words.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s your creative process like now? What\u2019s your writing routine like?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I write five days a week, six if I can steal some hours on Saturday. I\u2019m slow. Doing it most days is the only way I get anywhere.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Who are some are your favorite Texas authors now and in the past?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Larry McMurtry is the grandaddy of us all. The wonderful body of work he\u2019s created, both in fiction and nonfiction, is a real legacy for all Texas writers, something we should study, be proud of, and aspire to ourselves. I think Billy Lee Brammer\u2019s The Gay Place<\/em> is a wonderful novel, and should be better known. Bud Shrake was a writer who produced much fine work across a broad range of genres and material. Then there\u2019s my friend David Searcy who lives down the street from me in Dallas. He published two excellent novels with Viking in the early 2000s, and now his career is set up for a strong second act with the publication of his essay collection Shame and Wonder<\/em> by Random House this coming January. He writes as beautifully and truly about life, and Texas, as any writer I know of, past or present.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Praise for Ben Fountain’s work<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cBilly Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/span><\/em> is not merely good; it\u2019s Pulitzer Prize\u2013quality good . . . A bracing, fearless and uproarious satire of how contemporary war is waged and sold to the American public.\u201d \u2014San Francisco Chronicle<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cBrilliantly done . . . grand, intimate, and joyous.\u201d \u2014New York Times Book Review<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c[An] inspired, blistering war novel\u2026Though it covers only a few hours, the book is a gripping, eloquent provocation. Class, privilege, power, politics, sex, commerce and the life-or-death dynamics of battle all figure in Billy Lynn\u2019s surreal game day experience.\u201d \u2014New York Times<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cA masterful echo of \u2018Catch-22<\/em>,\u2019 with war in Iraq at the center. \u2026a gut-punch of a debut novel\u2026There\u2019s hardly a false note, or even a slightly off-pitch one, in Fountain\u2019s sympathetic, damning and structurally ambitious novel.\u201d \u2014Washington Post<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cFountain\u2019s excellent first novel follows a group of soldiers at a Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving Day\u2026Through the eyes of the titular soldier, Fountain creates a minutely observed portrait of a society with woefully misplaced priorities. [Fountain has] a pitch-perfect ear for American talk.\u201d \u2014The New Yorker<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cBilly Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/em> <\/span>is a big one. This is the brush-clearing Bush book we\u2019ve been waiting for.\u201d \u2014Harper’s Magazine<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cSeething, brutally funny<\/span>\u2026[Fountain] leaves readers with a fully realized band of brothers\u2026Fountain\u2019s readers will never look at an NFL Sunday, or at America, in quite the same way.\u201d \u2014Sports Illustrated<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a darkly humorous satire about the war at home, absurd and believable at the same time.\u201d \u2014Esquire<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cDarkly comic\u2026Rarely does such a ruminative novel close with such momentum.\u201d  \u2014Los Angeles Times<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c[T]he shell-shocked humor will likely conjure comparisons with Catch-22<\/span><\/em> and Slaughterhouse Five<\/em><\/span>\u2026War is hell in this novel of inspired absurdity.\u201d \u2014Kirkus Reviews<\/span> <\/em>(starred review)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retro interview with author Ben Fountain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[229,53,9,8,15],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-authorinterview","tag-interview","tag-lonestarliterarylife","tag-lonestarliterarycom","tag-texasauthor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}