Read to Know Basis: Temim Fruchter
The author of City of Laughter talks martinis, demons, and writing toward the joy.
Read to Know Basis is a weekly interview series with authors. It features debut authors and established writers talking about reading, writing, and of course snacks. This series is free to all. If you like what you read considering subscribing to support the work of Unstacked, and of course go out and buy the book!
Temim Fruchter is a queer nonbinary anti-Zionist Jewish writer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Maryland, and is the recipient of fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Vermont Studio Center, and a 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award. She is co-host of Pete’s Reading Series in Brooklyn. Her debut novel, City of Laughter, a New York Times Editors’ Pick, is out now from Grove Atlantic.
What are five words to describe your book?
Queer, choral, folkloric, existential, permissive.
What is the strangest thing you googled while researching/writing this book?
There were many strange googlings, but I would say probably the mechanics of demon possession.
What book made your book possible?
So many, but one that comes to mind is Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg, which was a major touchpoint for me in terms of how to write a speculative history characterized by both playfulness and integrity. Also, much more literally, the play The Dybbuk, by S. An-sky.
Describe your ideal reader?
Someone who insists on ghosts. Someone existentially agitated. Someone with a morbid and irreverent sense of humor. Someone very into wonder. Someone who wants to confirm, over and over again, their belief that this world holds much more than we can readily perceive.
What has changed for you as a writer since becoming a published author?
Perhaps most significantly, I have readers! I mean, as someone who’s been publishing work for over a decade, I have always had a handful of readers, but a first book means that that number exponentially increases. I find it deeply moving, to feel a little bit more like what I’m writing is a conversation with someone on the other end.
What is a piece of writing advice that you’ve received that you think is really bad? What is a piece of writing advice that you think is really good?
I really dislike “show, don’t tell” as blanket good advice. I think there’s some wisdom there, to be sure, about the evocative power of images and scenes, but I also think telling can also be immensely powerful and skillfully applied to a work of fiction. It’s all so context-dependent; every single work of fiction demands a slightly different approach.
My favorite writing advice has been simply to write toward the joy. Write what excites you, follow your energy across the page, let it be lavish and extra and relish it. You can edit later. Writing is sometimes drudgery and sometimes challenging and sometimes even kinda boring but when you feel that magnetic pull, follow it into the thicket of your story and your sentences as deep as it will take you.
What are you reading right now? And what book are you desperate to read next?
I’m reading and entranced by The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. I had somehow lived my whole life without ever having read a single one of her books, and now I feel like what lies ahead of me is an embarrassment of riches. Next up is Lisa Ko’s Memory Piece and I can’t wait. It sounds like a truly exciting read.
What book are you an evangelist for?
It’s hard to choose one - when I’m a fan of something, I fan hard, and I always want the world to know. A recent one that surprised me and that I’ve recommended a lot is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I read it in the deep pandemic and was really astonished by its language and its immense contours. It hasn’t left me yet.
What’s a book you’d recommend to someone who wants to know you better?
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson.
Who is your literary crush?
If I didn’t say Alexander Chee, everyone would know I was lying.
If you could not be a writer what would you do?
Recently, I’ve been entertaining this fantasy of becoming a cat behaviorist.
You’re invited to a literary potluck, what are you bringing?
Batch martinis, briny as filth. And a snacking cake.
Connect with Temim: Instagram | Twitter | Website
Read to Know Basis is a weekly interview series with authors talking about reading, writing, and of course snacks. This series is free to all. If you like what you read considering upgrading to a paid subscription to support the work of Unstacked, and of course go out and buy the book!
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I think I might be the ideal reader. Adding to TBR immediately.
Snack fans… what exactly is a “snacking cake”? I need an example.