Sigrid Nunez: Breaking the Rules… in More than One Ways
Why would a story that appears to be the truth be called a novel? - A thought that crossed many of Sigrid Nunez’s readers’ mind in A Feather in the Breath of God. Parts of the book were of two immigrant parents, which can be assumed are Nunez’s own mother and father and this led to the belief that the rest of the book is based on the truth.
She feels like she had invented a new genre “faction”, a fictional book based on the facts. However, the key words are “based on the truth”. As Nunez admitted, her characters come from people she’s met or knew in her life. She said A Feather in the Breath of God is more autobiographical than her other books, but which parts were fictional is still a mystery. When she was asked indirectly, what components of the book were fictitious, she quickly dodged the bullet, stating that her books are only based on her life.
Curiosity regarding the affair with the foreigner emerged, but Nunez was hesitant to talk about her earlier book. “It’s not a good idea, if something is called a novel, to read it in the spirit of trying to think if this part really happened or not,” she said.
Unlike Samuel G. Freedman, she was not comfortable talking about her parents and her past life, she would rather focus on her present book and her style of writing rather than her life story.
One question was so bluntly asked that it shocked the truth out of her:
“Did you really try acid when you were driving with your friends?”
“There was A LOT of acid… Yes, I’ve done acid, yes! More than once… and other drugs too, I have done all those drugs.”
Nunez is a unique writer, constantly breaking the rules. Unlike many writers who outline their novels before writing them, she likes to just go with the flow. Her style of writing is very distinct, very detached from such a personal subject. With her new genre, spunky personality, and drug-filled past, she is a writer hard to come by.