Download PDF The Dinner Party: A Novel
A Conversation with Brenda Janowitz Q: You are the author of four previous novels. What can your readers expect from The Dinner Party? How does it compare and differ from your previous books? A: This is my most ambitious work yet. I hope readers will find what they love about my other booksthe fun, the humor, the honestybut will discover how Ive grown as a writer. Im hoping readers will find The Dinner Party to be a thought-provoking read about family, love, marriage, ambition, and acceptance. Q: Tell us about the inspiration for the book and how you came up with the title, The Dinner Party A: I wanted to write a book about letting go, and how only when we let go of the past can we move on with the future. Passover seemed like a perfect metaphor for this 'Let my people go' and all that. I very much wanted to stretch myself creatively, and write about people of different ages, with different backgrounds, so having a book about three very different families with two generations allowed me to do that. The novel was originally called The Last Supper, because of the theory that the Last Supper was actually a Passover Seder. My publisher felt readers might be confused by that title (as many thought my last book, Recipe for a Happy Life, was a novel about cooking. ..), so we decided to think of a title that was a bit more universal, that really encompassed what was happening. The Dinner Party was the perfect fit. Because when Sylvia Gold throws a family Seder, its not just a Seder. Its an event. Q: Sylvia Gold is an unforgettable character. Pretentious and overbearing, she is also a doting motherperhaps to a fault. Her actions throughout the novel, while often appalling, are also very humorous. Who was your muse for Sylvia? A: Funny you ask that. I thought Id created Sylvia purely out of my imagination. But as I prepared to host my familys Passover Seder last year while I was deep into editing the novel, I found myself writing place cards, and having my gutters emptied, and doing a lot of what I had Sylvia doing to prepare for her own family Seder (although I did not hire a caterer. The brisket was mine and it was spectacular). I emailed my editor: I think I may be Sylvia. .. And she quickly responded: I think we all have a little Sylvia in us. Q: In addition to Sylvia, The Dinner Party features a host of wonderful and entertaining characters. Did you model any of the characters off of people you know? Do you identify with any of the characters personally? A: In every novel I write, Im every character. And everyone Ive ever met is every character. For me, character inspiration comes from everywhere I go. I see it in everything I do. So, I dont specifically model characters off people I know. But my life and my experiences seep into every novel, so friends and family are always saying to me: that character is based on me, isnt it?! I try to tell them gently: its not. But the characters are an amalgam of my life, so I suppose if weve ever met, you could say that my characters are partially based on you. Q: The first 'meeting' between two families can be a bit awkward, no matter who you are or where youre from. But in the book, you have the Golds of Greenwich, CT entertaining the Rothschilds of NYCone of the wealthiest families in the world How did you come about choosing the Rothschilds? A: The Rothschilds are legendary, and certainly the most famous Jewish family to ever live. In my fiction, Im always looking to push things further, so when I was looking for a foil for Sylvia, it had to be the biggest and the best. It would be hard to have Sylvia so concerned with appearances otherwise. Q: Learning how to let goof old grievances, family, unrealistic expectationsis a central message of this novel. Whats the significance of this to you both as a writer and as a person? A: Learning how to let go is something Im always struggling with in my personal life, so I did what all writers do, I wrote about it. Q: The Dinner Party revolves around a life-changing Passover Seder. Why Passover? A: Passover just seemed like the perfect metaphor for this idea of letting go. I knew I wanted the dinner to revolve around a family holiday, and there were a lot to choose from. But Passover really spoke to me as the onefirst theres this big Seder, which every family handles differently, and then theres the festive meal that follows. A huge portion of the book takes place at the Seder (and in an earlier draft, the entire book took place on this one night), so it was important that the holiday be long enough, important enough, to handle the weight of the book. Q: Building on that last question, despite the books setting around a Passover Seder, The Dinner Party is a book any reader can enjoyand relate toregardless of their religious affiliation. Why is that? A: At its core, this is really a book about family. How we love each other, how we drive each other crazy. And, of course, how we come back together again. The details about Passover are fun (and I think mean different things to different people), but its really a book about who we are both inside our family and outside of it. Q: The Dinner Partyblends family drama and dysfunction with larger issues including status, religion, race, and what defines success. What do you hope readers take away from the book? What did you learn about yourself in writing it? A: Well, first off, I always want to entertain. I want people to get away from life for a while and engage themselves fully in this fictional world Ive created. If they can also think a bit about their own families, about their places within it, and how they relate to each other, that would be great, too. And, of course, it would be wonderful if readers discovered all of the hidden things Ive got in there (did you spot all of the plagues?), but that stuff should only deepen the enjoyment of the book. I mostly want people to come away having enjoyed themselves (and recommending it to their friends!) Q: Whats next for you? A: Im working on my sixth novel, while still focusing on my freelance work. Its fun to stretch different writing musclesfiction and non-fictionso I like having that balance. Read more
Details e-book The Dinner Party: A Novel
🗸 Author(s): Brenda Janowitz
🗸 Title: The Dinner Party: A Novel
🗸 Rating : 4.1 from 5 stars (459 reviews)
🗸 ISBN-10: 1250007879
🗸 Languange: English
🗸 Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
🗸 Supported Devices: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
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