JOSEPH SKIBELL, author of MY FATHER'S GUITAR & OTHER IMAGINARY THINGS. AMA: Ask Me Anything or All My Angst

[u/JosephSkibell]

Hello, I’m Joseph Skibell, author of a new book, a collection of true stories called MY FATHER’S GUITAR & OTHER IMAGINARY THINGS.

Really the book is imaginary things, things like Family, Mortality & The End of Childhood.

Proof: https://twitter.com/JosephSkibell

My previous novels include A BLESSING ON THE MOON and A CURABLE ROMANTIC. The family name is pronounced SKY-bell.

The New York Times called my work the product of a “gifted, committed imagination” and Nobel-Prize winner JM Coetzee characterized it as “wholly original.”

I’ll be answering questions on the AMA (Ask Me Anything or All My Angst) on Thursday, December 10, 2015, beginning at 6 pm EST until 7 pm EST. But only if there are questions, so please, to quote James Taylor, don’t let me be lonely tonight! Ask me anything and let’s see if we can make some sparks fly conversationally.

Edit: Thanks, all! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have!

[u/MichaelDArthur]

Do you feel like your focus on learning guitar has strengthened your writing? In what ways?

[u/Ehrstin]

Hello Mr. Skibell. I was wondering if you think of/identity yourself as a Jewish writer? And, if so, what that means to you?

[u/JosephSkibell → u/Ehrstin]

Hello, Ehrstin. That's a funny issue. I mean, how can I be a Jewish writer? I don't write in a Jewish language. I don't write exclusively for a Jewish audience. I don't always write about Jewish issues or concerns. In MFG&OIT, for instance, there are many pieces that have nothing ostensibly Jewish about them in terms of subject or theme. On the other hand, as quixotic as it may seem, I do feel that just as, according to the Book of Genesis, the Holy One created the universe through language, that language has the power to create worlds, and that a writer goes about that same business in much the same way. I mean, Hamlet, created by William Shakespeare is -- let's face it -- much realer than (I'm picking a name out of a hat here) Robert E. Lee, created, presumably, by God. So in that way, and of course, in many other ways, I do think of myself as a Jewish writer, a proud inheritor of a tradition that runs through Moses and the Psalmist to Saul Bellow and on.

[u/JonathanEvison]

. . . perhaps you don't have this issue, but almost every other writer i know does: procrastination. why do we sit down to write, and look for any excuse to put it off? emails, Facebook, shopping for faberge eggs?

[u/JonathanEvison]

would you say that there is a moral center to your work?

[u/JonathanEvison]

. . . a question you once asked me: what is the role of the novelist in the post-literate age?

[u/JISimpson]

Have you ever finished a novel and then realized that it would be better told in a different p.o.v., then rewritten the whole thing only to discover that the original p.o.v. was just fine?

[u/rebecca11231]

What are the issues/concerns you dealt with when writing about family? Do you feel more/less compelled to tell the truth? Did you feel a need to protect the living more or the dead?

[u/MSchapiro]

Just finished your latest, and appreciated the background info on how "A Blessing on the Moon" evolved. Can you share the origins of your other books? Also, other than Talmud/Torah study, what are your favorite contemporary authors/books?

[u/brosen56]

Since I grew up in Lubbock with you, I would be interested in knowing a little about your religious journey from that environment to where you are now.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Man_of_words]

Hello from an Emory Alumnus, unfortunately I didn't get to take a class with you while attending, but I do have a couple of questions:

How has your role as a father influenced your writing? How did you come to meet Margaret Atwood and what is your relationship with her like? Favorite place to eat in Atlanta?

[u/Chtorrr]

What are your favorite books from childhood? Have they influenced your writing?

[u/Mfitten]

Do you rest between books or do you write continuously? Do you always have ideas you want to explore? What's on the horizon?

[u/Shimongo]

I remember you telling me about the research you wanted to do on the stories you were coming across in your Talmud study. This was at least ten years ago. Did you have an idea for a book then or was it something that evolved during your learning? How hard was/is it to stay focused on long term projects? Shimon Goldberg

[u/jwu58]

I'm a student who's met you for office hours and I've noticed you have Mason & Dixon in your office: How do you feel about Pynchon's representation of Jews and Jewish self-hate? How do you feel about non-Jews and their representation of Jewish caricature? I mean with Pynchon, he's on point with V I think, but do you have qualms with what defines a Jewish character for many writers?

[u/REDDsITz]

Do you write poetry, and if so, how is it different, as an outlet or in style, from your longer form fiction and nonfiction? What are some of your favorite poems (all time or right now) to read?

[u/rebecca11231]

Oh, also, what advice do you have for writers looking to write (or maybe perform a show) about their own family?

[u/davidcreature]

Is there still an opera adaptation of A Blessing on the Moon in the works? If so, are you writing the libretto? And have you given up playwriting altogether?

[u/Ehrstin]

Could you talk a little about what you are working on now?

[u/rebecca11231]

I read the phrase "the toddlerization of the Arts in America" recently. Can you speak to that?? Is it to do with self-indulgence or something else entirely?

[u/ru-minations]

A Blessing on the Moon is one of my all-time favorite books. It has a dream-like quality--did you feel like you were in a different sort of head-space while you were writing it?

[u/JISimpson]

Have you read Evison's new novel? If so, what did you think?

[u/Asa_Kendall]

Which is more satisfying for you -- writing the first paragraph of a manuscript, or the last?

[u/jhchillin]

What are your thoughts on our nation's most promising scholar: Geoff Gilbert