On his old, now defunct site, Victor Gischler conducted a series of interviews from the end of 2004 to mid-2005. With his permission BSC will be reprinting his World’s Worst Interview series over the next few days. Sometimes the internet feels temporary, and good content gets lost or forgotten in the rush forward. When possible, we want to blow the dust off of something and bring it back to the front. If you know of something that should be reprinted let me know.
Victor Gischler conducted the following interview with Jason Starr in February 2005.
With novels like Tough Luck, Hard Feelings, and Twisted City, Jason is arguably the poster child for modern noir. Let’s waste his valuable time:
Victor Gischler: How much does living in New York affect your work? I actually heard a guy got mugged in New York City, and they never caught the guy who did it.
Jason Starr: Wow, that’s a really bad question. You’re already living down to my non-expectations for this interview…But, yeah, New York has a big affect on my books. All my books are set–mostly–here, anyway, and there’s endless material…And people don’t get mugged in NYC anymore, Victor–that’s SO 1970s.
Say something insightful about the writing process. Come on, Barry-boy. Talk!
Well, Edgar boy, it goes like this….Every morning I get out of my apartment. I go to Starbucks or the lounge in my health club. Half the time I sit there with a stupid look on my face doing nothing. The other half of the time I write. Somehow books get done.
So you know Halle Berry, huh? Is that as cool as I think it is?
Man, that story has legs, doesn’t it? I think Ken Bruen started all that talk last year and then Duane S. picked up on it, and it was off to the races. Actually, I don’t know her, although I wrote an original script for her, which she’s also producing, and which is currently in development at Fox Searchlight. I do know the director of the film who knows her very well, so there’s only one degree of separation between us. And my agent met her last fall so maybe that means there’s half a degree of separation between us, how’s that?…And, yeah, being separated from her by half a degree is very cool.
Do you ever get the urge to write something other than noir…like sci-fi or greeting cards or pop-culture essays
I wrote a screenplay that was very un-noir–a feel-good, romantic comedy, believe it or not. I’m not kidding–it’ll make you cry…I don’t sit down and try to write noir novels. But I think noir is my real vision, so that’s what usually comes out.
Would you rather fling your disco thing with Abba, or get your rat-pack on with Frank Sinatra?
Abba, baby….Although I like Frank too, especially “New York, New York” after the Yankees win at the Stadium.
Do you have any hobbies that the world might think a giant waste of time, but you find very entertaining?
I go to the racetrack (is that a hobby?) It’s usually a total waste of time (and money), but I’m co-editing an anthology of racing stories for Vintage Books so finally some good may come of it…
PB&J or grilled cheese?
PB & J. (Smucker’s just peanuts/no saturated fat. I’m a semi-health food freak.
What’s the worst thing your editor ever said to you?
Nothing bad. I’m lucky.
Spill the beans about up-coming projects. Give us a glimpse of the future.
The horse racing antho, a new book at Random House U.S./Orion U.K. in 06. I’m going to Germany for a whole month this summer to promote the German edition of Twisted City….Noir Night in Houston….Oh, and interviewing some sick, twisted MF named Gischler for Crime Spree…
Really? What’s his first name? He might be a cousin.
Super-fly thanks and quantum gratitude to Jason Starr for enduring the nonsense. Visit his website to learn more about him and his books!
And BSC Review would like to thank Victor Gischler for the generous use of this interview series!
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Victor Gischler is the author of 4 hard-boiled crime novels. His debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi where they beat him with rolled up newspapers and fed him raw liver. His fifth and sixth novels Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse and Vampire a Go-Go were published by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.
