Arts
It's a Novel, Not a Popularity Contest
Hanna Rosin and Amy Sohn discuss Sohn's new novel, Prospect Park West.
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This is part two in a dialogue between Hanna Rosin and Amy Sohn about Amy's new novel, Prospect Park West. Read part one here.
Dear Hanna,
A sweet and happy New Year to you. Thanks for your interest in my book.
For me, there’s been a strange disconnect between what critics have said about the novel and what real women in Park Slope have said to me. Some critics have contended that the characters are not believable enough, while women in my neighborhood keep coming up to me to tell me they “know” a Karen, or a Lizzie, or a Rebecca.
So no, I don’t feel that the characters are stereotypes. It’s hard to imagine a movie-star mom (Melora) as a stereotype—how many American cities can boast having any? I came up with Rebecca, the undersexed hot mom, in part so I could turn a particular stereotype on its head—the new mother who has lost interest in sex. I got so sick of reading accounts of this in the new-mommy lit (“After my six-week postpartum visit I lied and told my husband the OB/GYN said no sex for six more weeks”) that I decided to invent a mother with a higher sex drive than her husband. What are the real implications of all these involved dads? What does it do to a marriage when the man is the more protective parent?
And as for Lizzie, the ex-lesbian who’s a little lost? I never met a self-professed hasbian on the playground and I’ve logged a lot of time on them.
You’ll notice I saved Karen, the so-called alphamom, for last. Yes, the alphamom is now a cultural stereotype, and I had a lot of fun with Karen’s overprotectiveness, but I also tried to give her a difficult past, and a self-flagellating self-delusion. Inside she’s not as smug as she seems on the outside.
I am sorry you would not want to spend any time with my characters in real life. I must say that the new strain of critique I have noticed on Amazon and book sites, in which readers discuss characters’ “likability,” reminds me of horrendous development meetings I’ve had with network television executives. One of the reasons I write novels is because I don’t have to make everyone likeable. The history of novels is the history of flawed, complex characters. I read Looking for Mr. Goodbar this summer. Did I want to be friends with Theresa Dunn? No. But was she compelling? Absolutely.
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