Biography
Anita Diamant is an award-winning journalist and the author of several bestselling novels (The Red Tent, Good Harbor, The Last Days of Dogtown, Day After Night), a collection of essays (Pitching My Tent, and six nonfiction guides to contemporary Jewish life.
Good to Know
Some interesting outtakes from our interview with Anita Diamont:
"Modern dance concerts inspire me like little else. I'm amazed at the creativity and the range of the human imagination in the human body. Along a similar vein, I tend to prefer contemporary art museums and galleries for the visual/mental kick-in-the-pants. I don't go in expecting to like everything I see; I'm just... looking!"
"I unwind by walking on the beach. Sky, sea, sand, rocks, birds -- the great noisy emptiness. Nothing like it."
"I'd rather be home, or close to home. Traveling around the US or abroad is fascinating, but I lack the bug or gene that inspired people to visit the four corners of the globe. I'm not uncurious, honest. Maybe I'll grow into it..."
Feature Interview
In the summer of 2009, Anita Diamant took some time out to talk with us about her favorite books, authors, and interests. What was the book that most influenced your life or your career as a writer -- and why?
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf influenced me as a journalist and as a novelist in ways that continue to unfold. I'm pretty sure that I missed the humor on virtually every page when I first read the essay, as an earnest undergraduate. Today when I re-read it, I'm still inspired not only by Woolf's clear-eyed message that women's stories need to be told, but also by her style, conviction, and wit. Written in 1928, these 118 pages still challenge readers and writers to consider, "Who is left out?"
In one passage, Woolf ponders the lives of the flesh-and-blood lives of the women who were Shakespeare's contemporaries. She wrote, "One knows nothing detailed, nothing perfectly true and substantial about her. History scarcely mentions her... She never writes her own life and scarcely keeps a diary; there are only a handful of her letters in existence. She left no plays or poems by which we can judge her.
"What one wants," Woolf wrote, " is a mass of information; at which age did she marry; how many children had she as a rule; what was her house like; had she a room to herself; did she do the cooking ...
"All these facts lie somewhere, presumably, in parish registers and account books. The life of the average Elizabeth woman must be scattered about somewhere, would one collect and make a book of it."
Virginia Woolf challenged me to tell stories that have (or might yet) fall off the page of history simply because they belong to women.
What are some of your favorite books, and what makes them special to you?
<.li>Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers -- The real Mary Poppins got lost in 1964 when Hollywood turned her into a cream puff. Her name now conjures up the image of a perfect nanny, a woman who sweetly charms and pacifies her charges. But children who read the Pamela Travers series know that Mary Poppins is, in fact, opinionated, sharp of tongue, and not always nice. That's not a problem since she is a good egg at heart and, much more important, a witch with a magic satchel and knowledge of secret doorways into the many enchanted places hidden in plain sight throughout London. (Sound familiar?)
Travers had a light touch for the supernatural: newborn babies who could converse with the wind, sunbeams, and birds; an ancient candy-store owner whose self-regenerating fingers are made of barley sugar. But Mary Poppins herself was the best magic of all. A free spirit ,who comes and goes as she sees fit; a well-traveled person with a fabulous past; an ordinary-looking woman who adores her own appearance and whose self-regard is as unassailable as the Himalayas: I didn't want Mary Poppins to be my nanny. I wanted to be her when I grew up.
The Sabbath by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel -- This slim, poetic volume of practical theology opened my heart to the practice of Judaism. Nearly 20 years ago, my then fiancé and I read it aloud to each other, a few pages every Friday night, as we started to experiment with our own Shabbat table rituals -- lighting candles, pouring a cup of wine, breaking bread, singing blessings. Heschel explains the Sabbath as the source and crux of Jewish spirituality: "There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious. Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year."
The Sabbath is one such sanctuary, indeed a weekly "cathedral" that rises in my dining room, in my family, in my heart -- but only if and when I consecrate it through my intention, words, and deeds.
Song of Myself by Walt Whitman -- This long poem is a list of everything Whitman loved and everything he challenges us to love: himself, ourselves, humanity, America, music, animals, rivers, city life, work, sex, God, freedom, even the grass beneath his feet, which he describes variously as "the flag of my disposition, the handkerchief of the Lord, the beautiful uncut hair of graves." There's something almost adolescent about Whitman's paean to the things that were and remain good about America, and I mean that as a compliment to the buzz and punch of his passion. I own a pocket edition and dip into it occasionally, like a box of chocolates, for quick energy and a reminder of how grand it is to read words that cause the soul to give thanks.
The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher -- Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher's warmth and wit shine in her 26 books, most of which are about the pleasures of the table. Responding to questions about why her subject was food rather than loftier topics, Fisher wrote, "It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. For Fisher, who died in 1992, eating was a metaphor for everything that is most important in life, and she ate reverently, ravenously, and with exquisite attention to what was on her plate.
What are some of your favorite films, and what makes them unforgettable to you?
Shakespeare in Love. Well, Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay. Need I say more? It's smart without being condescending, wit a big beating heart and humor in every frame.
Bull Durham. Best baseball movie ever. Susan Sarandon was a revelation and she's been a favorite ever since. Despite the shoulder pads, it wears well.
Walk on Water. An Israeli film by Eytan Fox that tackles a half dozen thorny moral dilemmas without flinching or cheating. It taught me to look at Israel in a whole new way. What types of music do you like? Is there any particular kind you like to listen to when you're writing?
I am a musical omnivore. Classical, pop, jazz, Brazilian, African, American Songbook... and there's always more to discover.
When writing, I generally keep the room very quiet. Usually, music distracts, however ... I have found a few discs that actually help me write (fiction only). These are contemporary vocals but sung in languages that are completely opaque to me: for example, Vartina, a CD from Finland.
What are your favorite kinds of books to give -- and get -- as gifts?
I appreciate receiving books that the giver loved and wants to share and thinks I will love it too. Doesn't matter the content so much.
I like to give poetry books -- contemporary, accessible, laced with humor and good sense. I don't hand these out like hotcakes; just to people who might actually slow down enough to read a poem or two. I also like to give cookbooks -- tailored to likes/dislikes/choices. Last year, I gave a book of mac and cheese recipes to a vegetarian family with little kids; I thought that was a pretty good gift. And more importantly -- so did they!
Do you have any special writing rituals? For example, what do you have on your desk when you're writing?
Actually, no. No rituals unless you count coffee. I can, have, and do write in all sorts of settings, including libraries, airplanes, and friends' houses. I try to keep my desk relatively neat, but not obsessively. In the winter, sometimes I light a candle, but only sometimes.
Many writers are hardly "overnight success" stories. How long did it take for you to get where you are today? Any rejection-slip horror stories or inspirational anecdotes?
When it came time to try and find an agent for The Red Tent, I had a tough time. Even though I'd been writing for the Boston Globe and other publications and even though I had published three nonfiction guides to Jewish life... it was a hard sell.
I sent inquiries and received polite rejections from several agents and firms about how hard it was to sell historical fiction but please, do send along any second novel I might write.
I wonder if any of them remembers those decisions...
What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered?
Courage! Don't give up after the first ten agents say, "No thanks."
Once you are published, don't expect anyone else to do your legwork for you. Build your audience from your base: friends, professional associations, churches/synagogues/mosques. Say "Yes," to every invitation to speak. And say "Thank you," to everyone who sells even a single copy of your book.
Not rocket science, but it works.
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