As mentioned yesterday and the day before (skip this paragraph if you've read parts one and two) Ira Nayman is an award-winning satirist with a Web site, three books (two of them “comic science fiction journalism”), the pilot for a radio series and a nifty Facebook page for fans. But he always dreamed of being a rift in the time-space continuum…
What are you currently reading, and why did you choose it?
I am currently reading 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer. I chose it because I’m afraid I may need 1001 ways (or more!) to market my books, and I want to be prepared.
I have recently read two books that I really enjoyed. One was called Darwin’s Bastards. It is a collection of science fiction by Canadian literary fiction authors who, for the most part, are not known for writing science fiction. I chose it because it had gotten very good reviews in the newspapers I read. I was not let down: many of the stories are mind-blowing, and the book as a whole is a lot of fun.
The other book was called Tinker’s Plague, by Stephen Pearl. I chose it because Stephen and I were scheduled to read together at the Ad Astra science fiction convention. Two and a half people showed up. It was a real bonding experience. I must admit (and I did to Stephen) that post-apocalyptic science fiction is not a particular interest of mine, but the book is very smart about the politics of a world where the energy system has collapsed amid the growing effects of global warming, and Stephen has a great eye for telling detail. I am delighted to be able to say that Tinker’s Plague is a really good book.
Do you have an unusual talent or skill?
Nope. I live the most boring life you could possibly imagine.
What do you sing in the shower?
I haven’t sung in the shower for over a decade, not since my last performance was brutally panned by Variety. Thanks for bringing back that wonderful memory!
What’s the view from your writing window?
It should be...right here! (see the accompanying picture)
Tell us a joke.
Actually, I don’t tell many jokes per se. The humour in my writing usually arises out of character, situation or Mesopotamian snake jugglers - I mean, aggressive absurdity.
If books and stories suddenly ceased to exist, what would you do instead?
Be a full time dreamer. (Basically, sleep a lot.)
Be a court jester (because, frankly, our courts take themselves WAAAAAY too seriously!).
Trap and sell beaver pelts; if anybody asked, I would tell them that I wasn’t outdated, I was just being retro.
One book you wish you’d written
Slaughterhouse Five. Kurt Vonnegut was my gateway drug to Thomas Pynchon. This is a wildly inventive book that is both funny, touching and very telling about the human condition. I am very comfortable with my humour writing ability, but some day I would love to achieve Vonnegut’s level of compassion for the human race.
One book or author that’s been unjustly neglected
I’d like to talk about a TV series that I think has been unjustly neglected, if that’s alright…
No objections? Seriously? This is your last chance…
Great. I’m in the middle of watching the box set of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, which is absolutely amazing. I was trying to tell a friend about it, and she told me she thought it was mean and tat she recalled nor enjoying it at all. It took me a while to realize that she was conflating it with The Larry Sanders Show, Garry Shandling’s second TV series (which was absolutely nasty, but which I also enjoyed immensely - that’s how you can tell me and my friend apart). It’s Garry Shandling’s Show is a deconstruction of the sitcom format that is wildly inventive (Garry frequently walks off sets to get from one scene to another; he sometimes involves the studio audience in the story; he “drives” longer distances in a golf cart made up to look like a car, etc.) and has moments of comic genius. I think it has been unfairly neglected because of all of the attention given to the in-your-face Larry Sanders Show.
Next book you’ll read?
Porter Grand’s Little Women and Werewolves. I promised.
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. It looks promising.
Best place you ever visited?
Real place, you mean, and not one from my imagination?
Paris, 1973.
My father was born there; he fled to Canada as a war orphan, along with many other members of my family. (That’s an amazing story I hope he will some day tell.) We lived in Israel for six months when I was 12; my father had found religion and for all but the last week we were there we believed that we had moved there permanently. In the end, we took a cruise up the Mediterranean, ending for a week in Paris, where my dad still has family. The city was bright and alive, something that stuffy, Puritanical Toronto didn’t seem to be. I would love to go back there as an adult (but nothing ever quite lives up to our childhood memories, does it?).
When & where were you happiest?
I have a good friend whose face lights up when she laughs. My happiest moments are when I can say or do something that gets that reaction from her.
And on that fascinating note, thank you Ira.
Colin Harvey - Author six novels, and editor of four anthologies; professional reviewer since 2003, including six years at Strange Horizons. Member of ...
