E. Lockhart's very popular book for young adults called THE BOYFRIEND LIST has just come out in paperback, and her sequel, called THE BOY BOOK has come out in hard cover. I so enjoyed her FLY ON THE WALL (and so did my precocious eleven-year old) that I believe the great blurbs she's gotten for both book, one of (many) of which is excerpted below:
The story is both humorous and witty, and the language is realistically raw. Sections such as "The Care and Ownership of Boobs" are particularly funny." -- School Library Journal
Here's my interview with Emily, followed by my very own vile boyfriend's list, which I composed for my visit to her blog a few months back:
If I had to offer two bumper sticker explanations for my novel, they’d be “Appearances are deceiving” and “Mean people suck.” Tell me what your slogans would be, and why.
The Boy Book has a LOT of instructions in it, because the girls it the story write a joint notebook in which they detail all the facts and advice they have for one another about the male sex. So I am tempted to give you excerpts from that notebook, like:
The boobs, if deployed properly, are like giant boy magnets attached to your chest.
and
What he says: I'll call you.
What is understood: He'll call me.
What he means: I don't want to see you again.
However, I will behave myself and take the question seriously.
For The Boy Book, the bumper sticker explanations should be:
"I am proud of my slutty kid"
-- because my heroine has a bad and undeserved reputation as a famous slut, which makes her a social leper. There's a lot of talk about the label "slut" and how it really means a lot lot lot of things and maybe it should be reclaimed in some way. The kids invent a slut superhero and form a rescue squad for "hooters in distress" when a topless picture of one girl starts circulating around the high school.
Second,
"Think about what you want and try to get it."
This is something that took me a long time to learn, basic as it sounds. Passivity is no way to live a happy life, in my opinion. Roo spends a lot of time in psychotherapy in The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book -- and this is one of the messages she comes out with.
Your two favorite movies over the past twelve months and why?
I am currently obsessed with Entourage.
I know. Not a movie.
But I am watching it on DVD and so I am deciding it counts.
I am obsessed because it's about the heirarchies and power dynamics in a small group - which is what I write about as well.
Vince has all these people depending on him. If he doesn't do a blockbuster film, they'll end up back in the ghetto. They've got no skills -- he's carrying them. And probably his folks back home as well. So he's got to make compromises, and often make a fool of himself because of the love he has for them. And he needs Eric very badly, because he's not a fighter, and Eric fights for him. And every time either Vince or Eric starts to break their circle of four by connecting with a woman, the group panics --- because their interdependence is ....
well, I am being boring.
But I love Entourage.
Plus, when I was young I had a friend who was friends with Jeremy Piven and Jeremy Piven was not yet famous and instead well and firmly in John Cusack's entourage. I got to see that entourage in action one night at a dinner party, and so I find it amusing on that level, too.
HERE IS WHERE SHEILA CURRAN GASPS AND SAYS "OH I LOVE Entourage too. Jeremy Piven is brilliant as Ari the agent...."
What was the one thing you learned in getting your book published that you were really surprised to find out?
My first book? I was surprised to realize that very few of my friends and family cared very much. They thought it was nice, but nice the same way I would think if they got a promotion, whereas to me, it felt earthshaking.
If you had to pick one and only one condition (beyond computer or pen and paper) that would allow you to write would it be: a. solitude b. caffiene c. sleep d. food e. sex or f. ______.
Sleep. I will fall asleep at my desk if not well-rested.
Do you have a favorite genre? If so, who are your three favorite writers? If not, who are your three favorite writers and how have they influenced your work?
I am a very wide, very erratic reader and not so prone to picking favorites. But I love John Irving, and have studied his narrative structure in Hotel New Hampshire and A Prayer for Owen Meany -- looking through first chapters, the way he handles suspense, etc. I love P.G. Wodehouse, because he makes me laugh -- his wordplay is ecstatic. I love Iris Murdoch, who writes such wonderful long strings of dialog that so perfectly articulate people's characters and complicated emotional states - -and for the way she mixes magic into the everyday lives of her characters.
Thanks for having me on your blog!
When I did my Girlfriend's CyberCircuit Tour last year and visited E. Lockhart's site, she asked me to make a Boyfriend's list connected to DIANA LIVELY IS FALLING DOWN. I composed the following:
The Vile Boyfriend List, or things to watch out for in a potential boyfriend
1) Vehicle has mudflaps with Playboy-Bunnies or confederate flags on them.
2) Has a Frequent Flyer Hooters’ Visa.
3) Owns a Promise Keepers Teeshirt.
4) Under-tips or berates a waitress
5) Is taking Mime classes
6) Talks during the movie, or reveals the ending to anyone who hasn’t seen it.
7) Wears cologne or spats.
8) Appears overly proud of his previous girlfriend’s low body-fat ratio
9) Tells you you’re not like the other American women, who wear too much make-up and expose their flesh to men.
10) Owns or operates a metal detector “just for fun.”
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