Andrew Marlatt
Interview by Linda M. Castellitto
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Andrew Marlatt's Economy of Errors was published in June. He worked on the book -- an hilarious compendium of parodic editorials, news briefs, and advertisements -- while running SatireWire.com, wherein he lampoons everything from the new economy to goofy kids to Viagra. The site also features highly amusing charts (see Are You Tangential?). Marlatt lives with his family in Branford, CT. |
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BookSense.com: How long have you been writing? How long has your writing been funny (in a good way, I mean)?
Andrew Marlatt: After finishing at the University of Georgia, I started out as a reporter for newspapers in Georgia and, later, Connecticut. I eventually wound up as a humor columnist at the Connecticut Post. Realizing I had found my niche, I promptly left and started over as a freelancer.
Were you a funny child/adolescent, or did your humorous tendencies emerge as you got older?
Actually, it started about a year and a half ago. You know how some people get an ear infection and wake up with vertigo? Well, I woke up with this.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that it wasn't an ear infection...?
Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta inspires your mind to wander, but I don't think I realized I could amuse people with my writing until I was a senior in high school. I specifically remember my senior English lit class at Peachtree High School with Mrs. Henry. On every test, and this is very true, I would just make up the answers; just wild, stream-of-consciousness stuff. I really didn't care that the answers were wrong, I just wanted them to be funny. And I remember that on every test, Mrs. Henry gave me an F. I'm pretty sure those Fs stood for "Funny."
What business person, trend, or industry do you have the most fun writing about?
Well, I think you hit on it with the word "trend." It's the trends that tend to be funny because they're so ephemeral, yet everybody latches on to them like they're "the answer." If there aren't any trends to make fun of, then I pretty much rely on Microsoft.
Where do you get the inspiration for your various stories? The news? Friends? Your own quirky brain?
Well, with the ear infection and all...
Other than that?
I'm almost always riffing on the news. It's really a matter of putting yourself in that alpha-wave state and allowing seemingly disparate things to coalesce in some absurdly humorous way. Or sometimes I just bang my head against a door.
Ow. Does it feel strange to you to go from website to book, rather than vice versa? Others have done it successfully -- The Onion, Nerve, etc. Any musings on how your book might fare?
Actually, going from the Net to a book seems perfectly logical -- and maybe even preferable -- in this day and age. The Internet is a publishing medium, and if you can build a following on the Net, you have a built-in audience for a book, something most first-time authors don't have.
As a result, theoretically, Economy of Errors should do quite well, which means I'll have no excuse if it doesn't, so scrap everything I just said. Actually, going from the Net to a book is strange and bizarre.
So, now you've entered the world of actual paper books. What's been most interesting/exciting/puzzling to you about the process of Becoming An Author?
The most interesting thing was the copyediting process. My editor, the very talented Becky Cole, primarily dealt with the content of the book, but when we got to the grammar, style, and fact-checking process, the book went to the copyediting department. I don't know who these people are, but they are seriously over-educated. If you refer to a 14th Century Portuguese fisherman's clothing as cerulean, they will point out that blue dyes weren't introduced in Portugal until the early 15th Century. And I suspect they know this stuff off the tops of their heads.
The most exciting, and puzzling, thing was being asked to do my first "blurb" for another author. I was quite surprised anyone would ask. A few months ago, before Economy of Errors had even come out, the publisher at Broadway Books sent me a new novel by Gary Krist to read. It was very flattering to be asked, although I was also nervous. I mean, if I didn't like it, I couldn't really comment, could I?
Fortunately, that novel, Extravagance, was excellent, so it was no problem. It comes out in the fall, I believe, and is a "mesmerizing cautionary page-turner!"
What are your favorite bookstores?
We're lucky in Connecticut because there is a great store called R.J. Julia, in the town of Madison, which has everything you want in a bookstore. Except beer taps. It even has a cafe attached, which is important.
Actually, the books-n-biscotti combination was the reason we moved from north from Augusta, Ga., back in 1987. My wife was interviewing for a job in New Haven and she called to say we had to move there, not because the job was good, but because they had a bookstore (called Atticus*) that you could eat in. Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing. I imagine there have been worse reasons to move.
Tell me more about the independent spirit of your endeavor...rumor has it that, despite your staff list, you actually do the entire site yourself, and had minimal assistance with your book. If so, do you ever get any sleep? And why has maintaining that independence been so important to you?
First, I should say that I did have help with the book. My art director, Lee Steele, who is a mesmerizing cautionary page-turner in his own right, laid out the pages in magazine style, and my friend Brian Briggs wrote one of the stories in Economy of Errors.
But as for independence... last night I slept two hours because I was working on a new story for the site that I wanted up by the start of the business day, so there's independence for you. Most nights I sleep more, although I don't look like it. In some respects, it's not like I have a choice. While I have someone who handles advertising, I do all the creative work on the site, and if you have readers, you feel obligated to keep them continuously entertained.
There are occasional times when I wish I didn't have to do it all myself, such as when I'm, say, tired, or not feeling funny, or sad, or angry, or happy or mellow or nervous or calm or distracted or vertical.
What books have you read lately that you would recommend?
Well, Gary Krist's yet-to-be-released novel, Extravagance, is a mesmerizing cautionary page-turner.
You give good blurb.
Thanks.
But other than Gary Krist?
I tend to read several books simultaneously because I have the attention span of a gnat. Right now I'm reading Flatland by Edwin Abbott, which is a fascinating look at dimensionality, Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James, and All in the Timing, a collection of plays by David Ives, which is hilarious. There aren't any good novels about ear infections, but I'm holding out hope.
* Atticus Bookstore 45 Broad St., Middletown, CT 06457 (860) 347-1194