Monica McFawn and Darrin Doyle
Bookbug, Kalamazoo
May 14, TBD
(269) 385-2847
bookbugkalamazoo.com
Monica McFawn is constantly on the lookout for characters. In everything she reads, watches and hears, she’s searching for a thread, a situation, a quirk — anything that can give birth to her next protagonist. And when it comes to fictional people, she believes the badder they behave, the better.
Not every reader and critic is so quick to see it that way, though. Of all the reviews of McFawn’s 2013 Flannery O’Connor Award-winning debut short story collection, Bright Shards of Someplace Else, Publishers Weekly’s labeling of her characters as “unlikable” stuck out to her the most.
“I just thought that was a strange way to put it and I think it’s worth trying to parse out what’s meant by that,” she said. “Is an unlikable character one who behaves badly? Is it somebody whose behavior doesn’t make sense? Is it somebody that has super-dark impulses, like a sociopath? I think the characters that are not behaving well are the ones that are most interesting to hear about.”
Bright Shards of Someplace Else is filled with misfits who consciously place themselves in troublesome situations. There’s the reckless babysitter who exploits a gifted child; the newly appointed supervisor who repeatedly fails to fire an incompetent employee; and the young boy who, after parlaying a cheaper phone bill for his nanny, convinces her he can solve her other problems as well. In another story, a biologist claims that our cells respond to abstraction in art and goes to great lengths to substantiate his bogus theory.
“I think people are most unlikable when they have a desire that’s being thwarted,” said McFawn. “That’s the whole idea of fiction — there’s an obstacle your character has to get around to get something they want, and the whole story is how they deal with that obstacle. When people have an obstacle in front of them, that’s when whatever character traits of theirs that might be difficult are going to come out.”
McFawn often goes to great lengths herself to bring characters to life. In developing the biologist turned art critic, she posed as the character and tried to convince a friend with a Ph.D. in chemistry that the scientist was a real person.
“I made this fake email account and did all this stuff to trick people with a fake persona,” she said. “People might think that’s strange, but I had a lot of fun getting into this character’s over-the-top personality. He’s so obsessed with this theory and acting like it had so much importance.”
That attention to detail enables McFawn to create scenarios for these characters that draw readers into their humanity, despite what they may think of their personalities. Instead of a traditional reading at Bookbug, McFawn will have a conversation with Darrin Doyle, whose short story collection, The Dark Will End the Dark, is filled with its own cast of unlikable characters. Together, they’ll defend the critical role such characters play in fiction by exploring the fascinating philosophical questions they help bring to the surface.
“The best thing an unlikable character can do is show you that you could be that way too if you were pushed to a certain point,” said McFawn. “When your readers are allowed to empathize with every step of that character’s journey except maybe the last one, that can be really interesting.”
OTHER LITERARY EVENTS
Reading the Great Lakes – The Virgin Suicides
Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch
May 7, 7 p.m.
(616) 988-5400, grpl.org
This month, the only book club focused exclusively on mystery, history, fiction and nonfiction set in the Great Lakes region takes on Jeffrey Eugenides’ tale of hormonal intrigue, suicide and young lust gone wrong in the tree-lined suburbs of Grosse Pointe, Mich. Join GRPL librarians in a spirited discussion of this contemporary classic. Copies are currently available on the library’s fourth floor.
Veronica Bosgraaf Pure Food Cookbook Event
Schuler Books & Music, Grand Rapids
May 14, 7 p.m.
(616) 942-2561, schulerbooks.com
Ten years ago, Holland-native Veronica Bosgraaf created the Pure line of vegetarian snacks in her own kitchen. Now, the immensely popular brand has made Bosgraaf a leading voice in the conversation around eating healthier. If you’re looking to explore fun and easy ways to change your diet, come hear her talk about her mission and get a copy of her new cookbook, Pure Food.
A 1000-mile Great Lakes Island Adventure
Black River Books, South Haven
May 23, 1 p.m.
(269) 637-7374, blackriverbooks.net
Loreen Niewenhuis loves exploring the Great Lakes, but in her latest book, she takes a trek across one of our region’s lesser-known natural wonders: its islands. A 1,000 Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure chronicles the author’s recent wilderness exploits, from the rugged expanse of Isle Royale in Lake Superior to the metropolis on Montreal Island. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear her stories in person.
