Caroline Zancan talks local girls, celebrity worship and its discontents, Amy Schumer and more.
Caroline Zancan talks local girls, celebrity worship and its discontents, Amy Schumer and more.
I'm a first-time writing enthusiast, and I was quickly immersed in Caroline Zancan's brilliant Local Girls. About celebrities, adulthood, and growing up in the swampy heat of a beach town, this novel is powerful and profound. Caroline is also an editor at Henry Holt, and she loves Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life as much as I do. Thanks so much for visiting my blog, Caroline!
What was the spark that ignited your book? What haunted you to write this book?
When I heard that an extremely popular young celebrity -- one who was very unlike Sam Decker, in many respects, I might add had overdosed, the idea struck me. When I first heard, I was shocked. He seemed to have a clean, wholesome image. The night before he passed away, it was said that he was in a mid-sized town bar drinking. It struck me how we attach so much importance to our celebrity encounters today. We share them like trivia and feel almost a kinship towards the stars we have crossed paths with. My friends who've seen celebrities or heard stories about them are the ones I think of when I see them. In addition to being saddened for the celebrity's friends and family, I also thought about those who were in the bar. Imagine how it would feel to drink with this celebrity all night, only to find out the next day that he was dead. The excitement of the moment gave way to the sadness and darkness that would follow. It was tempting to find a deeper meaning in the event. Imagine the story these people have. The original plan was for it to be just a short piece set in the current of the bar. But the longer I wrote, the more interested I became with the characters. It's their story, so I hope that the reading experience of people will be similar to the writing process. At first, you lean forward to listen to what the celebrity says, almost giddy with the close proximity, but by the end, you see the lives of the girls are equally interesting, profound, and worth your attention.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, on the other hand, has been my favourite writer for a long time.
His story, "The Freshest Boys", is one that I keep returning to. The story is about a boy who overhears a heated conversation between two of his idols and then makes an important life decision. The book in no way is an adaptation of the story. It was written by a boy who, at a much younger age, was bullied and isolated while attending boarding school on the East Coast. His heroes were both a college theater actress and baseball player. He never spoke to either. They do better than Sam Decker! It's a concept I have always loved: a chance encounter with someone who you love from afar can change your life.
The novel has a very strong sense of place--the bar, the beach, and the sweltering heat. It's almost as if it were all a dead-end. You grew up in such a place?
Although I am not originally from Florida, I spent many summers in the state as a child. This is a very wild and beautiful place. I am saying this with love and awe. The creatures and the landscape are more bizarre than anything in fiction, legend or fairytale. When I first started going there, I was about 11 or 12. My dad told me to watch out for gators as I and my brother were riding our bikes. I laughed and said, "Haha DAD!" But gators really aren't the worst of it. When you combine the ruggedness, the wildness, and the holiday spirit, the feeling is that anything can happen.
The feeling of restlessness I had at the age of those girls was something I also shared. John Steinbeck's epigraph, "All had restlessness" is the one I used for the cover of the book. It is a quote that is very true to my experience. It was 18 years ago that I was so eager to see what was next, though I didn't know exactly how it would look. Then, after graduating from college, I was just as excited. You suddenly feel like you can make decisions about the future of your own life. Any complaints that you may have are yours to deal with.
They're both besties and enemies and so real, that they jump off the page. What inspired you to create them?
I enjoy being with women. I have never said, "Oh most of my male friends, I am a girls' girl", despite the fact that I like men as well. It never ceases to amaze me the intensity of relationships and their complexities, which can be both thorny and delightful. This is especially true for women in their teens or early twenties, when they are experiencing a lot of emotions. It's like a high-pressure stage, with many complications. It's also important to note that as you age, you will have more options to talk about problems and seek advice. Teenage girls, on the other hand, tend to turn to their friends to cope or explore something they are thinking or feeling. It's because of this that we all have our Nina, Lila or both. I believe it has a lasting impact in our lives. These characters, while fictional in nature, are meant to represent a very real dynamic between two girls. It was fascinating to me that these girls were able to find their own outlet by reading about celebrities. I was even more amazed when they met one of them in person. What makes you believe that we need celebrities, royals and heroes, especially when part of us believes they are not who they claim to be?