From the opening sentence of Holbert’s remarkable debut, it is obvious that we are in the hands of a master storyteller….Holbert’s prose is simultaneously roughly hewn and elegant, and recalls Cormac McCarthy at his best, as do his insights into the relationship between predator and prey. Call it literary fiction, classic western realism, or historical noir, Holbert is a writer of formidable skill and this auspicious debut should have considerable crossover appeal.” Publisher’s Weekly
In the tradition of Cormac McCarthy, Bruce Holbert’s debut novel, Lonesome Animals, has been widely acclaimed as a raw, elegant vision of a vanishing American West. His version Cowboy Noir is gritty intense, and gripping. See Holbert Wednesday, Oct. 10 in conversation with novelist Russell Hill at the Mission District’s Oddball Film+Video. Free!
1. What is your favorite book?- I find myself returning to Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son quite often. I’m cheating, I know, but I can’t help it.
- 2. Who is your favorite author?
- This may sound odd, but lately I have been reading a lot of Harold Bloom’s criticism and, consequently, a lot of Shakespeare, lately. So right now, tonight, Shakespeare.
- 3. If the answers to 1 & 2 are different, why?
- Because there are so many good writers and good books.
- 4. How old were you when you were first published?
- Thirty or so.
- 4. What writing style do you most abhor?
- I’d say it’s less a style than an ethic: I find lazy writing, even by talented people, terribly tedious. I don’t demand perfect sentences or chiseled prose, necessarily. I want the effort and energy for the material to be apparent. When that occurs almost every style has something to offer and when it doesn’t, well, then even the most artistic attempt is diluted to artifice.
- 5. What is your favorite writing cliché?
- Avoid clichés like the plague.
- 6. What is your favorite word?
- Yep.
- 7. When and how do you write?
- I write on a Mac Powerbook whenever I can: in the car when my wife drives, at my job during breaks, during vacations, nights before I go to bed. The question might be how would you like to write if you weren’t working a steady job, raising your kids, and in a relationship with your wife, but then I could not write under those circumstances, so the point is moot.
- 8. What is your greatest fear when you first turn in a manuscript?
- That it doesn’t work. Fixing things, shaping things is one of the joys of working, but if there is no juice, you can change every word and it will still be lifeless.
- 9. In what era do you wish you’d been born?
- Neanderthal, then I’d have a shot at being the smartest person in the room.
- 10. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
- -ing verbs — they are like cholesterol in my sentence’s arteries.
- 12. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
- I once could dunk a basketball.
- 13. Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
- Hamlet
- 14. How would you like to die?
- Old and with my wits still about me.
