Made my way to Greenlight this evening for a conversation between Victor LaValle and Maud Newton, held in part due to the recent paperback release of the former’s novel Big Machine. The discussion between the two, preceded by a reading, was enjoyable — it achieved a good balance between casual conversation and deeper explorations of mutual areas of interest.
The discussion began by touching on horror, LaValle citing the idea that it isn’t a genre unto itself, but rather something that can be found in any style of fiction. Flannery O’Connor was discussed (I’m paraphrasing here: “she really likes to kill people”), as was J.D. Salinger — specifically, his short story “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor.” From there, talk turned to religion, with LaValle discussing his childhood experiences with it. Also covered was a more recent return to Episcopalianism: LaValle said that the informality of the Wednesday night services he began attending several years ago appealed to him, and that some of the different approaches to faith in Big Machine arose from his internal debates on the subject.
The conversation segued to LaValle talking about Ralph Ellison — the ambitions and flaws of Invisible Man, along with the reluctance of some to acknowledge the humor that Ellison brought to parts of it. The Ellison discussion concluded with LaValle volleying out a recommendation for Three Days Before the Shooting…; from there, the audience offered up a few questions, ending with a back-and-forth on the merits of both versions of The Crazies.