The Salon Interview, page two

Kasey Cleveland

20 August 2008

Except for the main part, the "truth" ends there.

Because plenty of irony looks like dyspepsia. The chapter where you dine with the Queen -- in which the Paul Theroux personality farts whilst shaking her hand, among other stuff -- was made public in The New Yorker under the heading "Fact and Fiction." what sort of reply did it incite in Britain? I was in Hong Kong when the piece appeared, and the Chinese papers in Kowloon had pieces about it -- with my name drafted in Chinese. The question remains not, "Did it happen?" It is : "Did it convince you? Did it hold you till the end? Did you like it?" instead of, "Is it true?" If all the other stuff occur -- if you read it, like it, recollect it, dream about it -- in a way it is irrelevant if it's correct or not. But when I spoke to her, she announced : "Did you see my letter?" And I claimed I sort of did, and asserted, "I think it was funny." And she claimed, "That's how I intended it." But she claimed, "I would have liked to set the record straight." I liked the moment in the new novel in which the Paul Theroux personality meets a lady whom he had described cruelly in "The Great Train line Bazaar." And she is really irritated with him, exclaiming, essentially, "How dare you." 1st of all, that chapter is simply a story. And every time I'm a bit having it my way. He is an example of somebody who has written to me. I have made mates along the way, I may say. I could write a book and call it an autobiography. Is "My Other Life" your method of putting the idiom into a sort of funhouse mirror? One of the issues I have with books about writers is that, when the writer is writing about himself or herself, it's typically a sort of "Mein Kampf" -- a struggle, about how tough it was to get a book printed. As an important point, I am planning a trip now. I am planning a visit to Africa pretty shortly. You've got a fave chair, and the light is right. The enticement to remain home is really powerful. And I was looking to see what the world was like.

Does danger appeal to you? No, not at all. I did not have lots of difficulty in those places. It is the most deadly country on the planet. I believe that giant families do produce writers. I am awfully careful about doing it each day.

I'd much rather say no, to tell you the truth. I suspect you would say they are puffed up asses. I suspect if I have any mission it's to scribble.