Jonathan Evison
Jonathan Evison
Jonathan Evison, is an American writer best known for his novels All About Lulu, West of Here, and The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. His work, often distinguished by its emotional resonance and offbeat humor, has been compared by critics to a variety of authors, most notably J.D. Salinger, Charles Dickens, T.C. Boyle, and John Irving. Sherman Alexie has called Evison "the most honest white man alive." His debut novel, All About Lulu, published in 2008 by Soft Skull Press, won...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
Maybe a theme that touches all of my work is people reinventing themselves.
There are holes in our lives that can never be filled - not really, not ever.
Too many writers of fiction don't give the reader enough credit.
When I started caregiving, I was not on very firm ground. My first marriage had dissolved. I was working at an ice-cream stand in my thirties. I learned that when you don't have anything to give, that's when you really give, and then you get back so much more.
I grew up in the Bay Area until 1976, then I pretty much went all the way through primary and high school on Bainbridge, though like anybody who grows up on an island, I ran the first chance I got.
My parents divorced after 25 years of marriage.
I write as a matter of need - seven books and God knows how many short stories before anyone published me.
Most everything that happens to me in any significant sense finds its way into my fiction.
In writing, I've found, playing it safe and familiar is no way to energize anybody.
I'm not in the business of meddling with people's destinies - and yes, my characters are real people to me. They have histories and thoughts and yearnings and hurts and misgivings and pleasures that don't belong to me.
I just need to believe that we're not in some form of stasis, that we can try to be whoever we want to be. We probably won't get there, but we might get a little bit closer, you know?
I never wanted to be anything but a writer, and I never let go of it.
I've been blessed with an optimistic disposition, I think.
There're so many great writers out there who aren't getting the exposure they deserve.