The Writer I Met
New York, NY, Oct. 24 – She was a disappointment. There, I said it. And I will apologize for it. Maybe it is my own fault, but that is just how I feel. And I do not want to feel like that. Sigrid Nunez, the writer, is brilliant. A Feather on the Breath of God is beautiful. Nunez essentially revolutionizes the way one looks at the novel, transforming it into this “fictional biography” as she termed it. Poignant, cold, yet emotional, A Feather on the Breath of God is a wonderful read.
However, to me, Nunez the writer was nothing like Nunez the person. The reading part of the event went smoothly, reiterating the already known fact that she is a good writer. It was sort of bizarre hearing her read from her own book. I would have never matched her real voice to her writer’s voice. In the question-and-answer setting, she was clearly uncomfortable. Frankly, there was not a single question I thought she answered with any kind of surety or clarity. Perhaps it was the questions that were asked that caused the undesired responses, but I am not convinced of that. I just think she really did not like answering questions about her work, dodging them to the best of her abilities. From the information that was conveyed, only a little light was shed upon her personality. Nunez was outgoing and had this carefree aura about her. She mentioned how she began writing each of her works, stating that she did no outlines or detailed planning. Although Nunez does have a basic idea for the overall theme of each work, she just writes and sees where it takes her. The style of her work is very interesting. It is neither fact nor fiction. Where does she draw the line between fact and fiction in, for example, A Feather on the Breath of God? I never found the answer to that burning question. Conveniently, she avoided that query like the plague.
I am reminded of another disappointment. Where was the passion? In my experience with authors, you can get to a certain topic in any of their works and they sort of light up with enthusiasm. It shows that their work means something to them, something that no one else can experience. Writers have this love of writing, this desire to communicate to the reader. I did not see this in Nunez. I saw someone indifferent to her own writing, someone almost bothered by having to discuss it.
Who was the Sigrid Nunez I met? I met a charming individual, not a charismatic writer. Is honesty and openness off limits? Would it be asking for too much to want to know who she was as a writer through personal communication rather than deciphering her through her literature?