Interviews

6 Things We Learned at Garth Risk Hallberg’s #BNAuthorEvent

Hailed a “a big, stunning novel” by the New York Times, and a “very-damn-good American novel” by The Kirkus Review, Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Firereleased today, has book-lovers from every corner buzzing. Jumping back and forth in time, the ambitous debut novel explores New York City during the 1977 blackout with the use of a non-traditional format, employing handwritten pages and black-and-white illustration. Last night, to kick off what is sure to be an exciting book tour for a hotly-anticipated book, Hallberg spoke before a packed room at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble and signed books (that weren’t even being sold yet in the rest of the world.) And here is what we learned:
It took Hallberg six years to write City on Fire. (And it might take you just as long to read it.)
Risk is his real middle name—not just what he was taking by tackling such an ambitious project. “I started writing under Garth Hallberg, but my sister discovered there is another one out there, another Garth Hallberg. He writes marketing books. I haven’t read them, but I’m sure he would be pleased if you did. I like my middle name, so I started to use it.”
The structure was influenced by Don DeLillo’s Underworld. “It has these short sections punctuated at intervals that occupy different narrative space—I always found that very comforting and pleasurable as a reader.”
No surprise, here: he loves big books. “I love these long novels, but they can be very daunting, especially depending on how fast you read. I’ve always found that there can be a sense that you’re slightly at sea wondering, ‘where am I going? Were am I coming from? That’s why I love DeLillo. I remember reading Underworld and feeling very guided by him.”
He doesn’t want you to be intimidated by weight of this thing. “I know it was borderline obnoxious to write a 900-page book, but it’s broken up into smaller narratives.”
People are comparing it to Bonfire of the Vanities. “I’m humbled,” he says.