Evan S. Connell

Evan S. Connell, over the last half century, has published nineteen books of fiction, poetry, and essays, several of which—including the best-sellers Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge, and the erudite, anecdotal, and totally unique nonfiction book Son of the Morning Star—are American classics. I've admired his work for many years, since first reading Diary of a Rapist, and was happy for a chance to interview him for Bookforum. I was told he doesn't, as a matter of principle, use a computer, so e-mail was out of the question; and he would prefer not to be bothered with phone calls from journalists and strangers. So this interview proceeded the old-fashioned way, complete with cordial, almost formal introductory letters: via mail between my home in the mountains of Virginia and his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, during late August and early September. Our dialogue—my half written on a laptop, his on a 1950s typewriter he uses to write all of his work—covered fiction, history, inspiration, his thoughts on the relationship between form and subject matter, America, hypocrisy, publishing, and writers he likes (but does not admire).