An Interview with Amy Hempel
“The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me.” This is the first line of Amy Hempel’s story, The Harvest. There is a lot packed into that one sentence. It is not clunky or meandering a la Faulkner, it is a sharpened knife that the reader enjoys slowly and deeply. Dave Weich wrote of her work, “if her stories tend to be small in scale, they drill as deep as fiction goes.” Most of Hempel’s stories do tend to be what some may categorize as minimalist. But that doesn’t go far enough. In many ways Amy Hempel is a risk-taking adventurer, a stand-up comedian, and a word-lover. Amy Hempel’s short story collections include Reasons to Live, At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, and The Dog of the Marriage. She is a highly respected author and when she agreed to travel from New York to Austin for this interview, I was shocked. “You know this is for Shelf Life Magazine, right?” I said. We met at Clementine, a local coffee shop that is certainly not impressive. When Amy ordered a soy chai latte with a shot of espresso, the lady behind the counter remarked, “Now that’s a badass drink.” We sat together outside. The sun was softly warm. Amy had a great, big beautiful smile and a wild plumage of gray hair.
Shelf Life: I would say that your rules for writing seem to be: 1. Be concise. 2. Play. 3. Be beautiful. Am I close? Amy Hempel: (Chuckles) Hmm, I never thought of it that way. Those are good rules, but I don’t know if I have rules per se. I just write. SL: So you don’t consciously try to be a minimalist? AH: No, I don’t even consider myself a minimalist. That’s just a way for the bookstores to find a way to group your books with someone else. They tend to want to put me next to Raymond Carver even though we are very different writers. But I guess I am more like Carver than… SL: Nora Roberts? (Laughs) AH: You’re right. You’re so funny, Ryan. Yeah, I guess am more of a minimalist than a romance writer. That much is true. I just don’t like to be limited by a style or genre. We chatted for awhile, straying off topic and having a great time. That was until I mentioned that I liked but not loved, Reasons to Live. AH: You’re telling me honestly that you didn’t adore the book? SL: Well…I….the thing is…um…. AH: I just don’t get how you couldn’t. I bled that book out. SL: I’ll be honest with you, Amy. It didn't move me that much either way. I appreciated some of your experimentation, your wordsmithing and your kookiness, but the book didn’t burn a hole in me, you know? AH :Why not, Ryan? How come my book didn't change your life or stir you up or shake you like a hurricane? SL: Sometimes books just hit certain people in certain places, and sometimes they just get read and digested and that's it. AH: I know that, but my book was good. Didn't you say you read Going to your Korean students because you liked it so much? SL: No offense, Amy, but a part of the reason I read to them that was that I had only brought a few books with me. You beat out Nine Stories only because I didn't think they'd get it and you beat out Jesus' Son. I did really enjoy Going though, but a lot of the other stories didn't stick. AH: Why? I worked so hard on them. Can't you appreciate them as art? SL: Of course. But do you walk through a museum and get stunned by every single piece? I'm sure there are a few pieces you just glance at and walk by. But it doesn't mean Rembrandt isn't a great painter. AH: What can I do? SL: Just keep writing what you want to write the way you want to write it. Somebody will love it. AH: So you don't love my writing? SL: No, but I love you. AH: I love you and your writing, Ryan. You're amazing. SL: I know.
SHELFLIFEMAGAZINE ARCHIVES: issue #002 |