This is the fourth in the Writers Resist/Power of the Pen series on how authors are coping in the Trump era.
Bill Roorbach is the author of fiction, memoir, and poetry with a decidedly Down East flavor. He joined me to share his views on writerly life in our strange new world.
How did the election and inauguration impact you?
I was aghast, blindsided. I was flying to Italy on election night to join Ann Hood on the faculty of the Spannocchia Writers Workshop on a medieval farm in Tuscany--they had CNN on satellite, and as we took off I was jubilant. As we landed, Pennsylvania went down. At my hotel in Florence, the desk man asked for my passport, took one look, said, Oh, no, America! And then so sadly shook his head and said "Trompi, Trompi, Trompi." Of course they've had their Berlusconi, so he knew what we were in for. Going forward, My family and I are going to lose our health insurance. As a self-employed person, the ACA saved me from $30,000 dollar deductibles PER PERSON, per year. And I'm depressed about the prospects for US leadership in the battle against global climate change, womens' rights, the environment in general, world peace, economic justice, immigration, religious and racial tolerance, really everything that matters. I have vowed to take an active role in bringing about a sane congress in 2018, and a new prez in 2020, if Trompi lasts that long.
Your brilliant novel THE REMEDY FOR LOVE tells the story of two people trapped in a ramshackle cabin in Maine when the blizzard of the century hits.
The story highlights the way relationships can move in fast forward during times of duress and enforced proximity. Do you think the feeling of high alert and emergency that the inauguration and subsequent frights have created might similarly shift relationship development in the real world?
Oh, thanks for kind words. That novel is also about the collateral damage of war, particularly the false war in Iraq. And Trompi with his moronic and half-educated belligerence may be sending us in for more. I do wonder about relationships in this environment. Trompi and the "republicans" (I put that word in quotation marks because these people are not the republicans we knew, who were awful enough, but oligarchic radicals) are like abusive husbands, and the rest of us like their trapped wives. They shame us, they lie about their motives, they work to destroy self-esteem, they are babies, they are violent. Bill Maher said it well--Trompi is like a toddler with a handgun. In that environment, the rats in the cages may stop mating for a while.
A New York Times Book Review review of your novel LIFE AMONG GIANTS said "These characters are not regular people, but they never feel like caricatures."
Given the colorful extremity of Trump's persona, it's hard not to view him as a caricature rather than a real person. Do you have any tips for those of us who are having trouble humanizing him?
Wait, is he human? I thought he was a cyborg with broken software. Like they spent all their budget on the wiring and didn't have much left for hair. The job of humanizing is his own. If he acts with humanity, with compassion, with intelligence, with foresight, we will all change our view of him. But it's unlikely--he only cares about money, and about himself. Though because he's a narcissist, he needs our love, so may act kindly here and there to get it just before he locks us in a closet and feeds us hamster pellets.
Your collection of stories THE GIRL OF THE LAKE will be released in June of this year.
One of the tales is about a a tech genius who seeks revenge on his wife and best friend because they'd once kissed, long ago. Recent news offers theories that the sweeping and radical legislation being pushed through in the earliest days of the Trump administration are driven in part by revenge. What are your thoughts about the power of this emotion?
What's the Sicilian proverb? "If you plan revenge, dig a grave for two before you start." I do think there is revenge at the heart of some of the Koch Brothers mad need to dominate. There are people who never recovered from the shock of the New Deal and its assault on the stoic mythology of American individualism. They have theirs, now go get yours. And if you fail, please have the decency not to die on the sidewalks. But revenge is a petty ideal, borne of anger, owned by the immature, the underdeveloped. These are extremely dangerous people. No clue what The Donald is trying to avenge. No doubt his father was very cruel to him when he was young. And the rest of us will pay.
You helped organize the "We Are All American Beauty" and "Other Inaugural" events in Portland Maine on January 21. A fundraising ball with proceeds going to the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project of Maine was included, along with author readings which you emceed. Tell us a bit about why the day was developed, and whether it was effective.
I also attended the Writers Resist event on the library steps in Manhattan. A couple thousand writers and readers on the steps, poetry in the air. It all felt so impotent. And yet there's power in numbers, in knowing that we are not alone. We Are All American Beauty is all about bringing people of all backgrounds and all cultures and all ideologies together in the arts so we can form coalitions and even movements, also plain friendships, be there for one another in the inevitable crises to come. And also form a network that can turn its attention to 2018, and flipping congress, then to 2020 and a new president, if Trompi lasts that long. Pence is worse, of course, because he's colder, a steel blade compared to Donald's sock full of quarters. But we were about love, and our ball was sold out, a beautiful cross section of Portland Maine, all cultures and colors and ideals represented, and dancing hard with new friends. The Counter-Inaugural reading was fantastic, packed, a dozen poets, various musicians, a theater workshop, all asking us to imagine the All-American child of immigrants seeing all that's going on, all that's being said, and realizing that our president is talking about his family. It must be terrifying. I don't know how effective in the big picture, but we did make community in a big way, and new connections, and on the practical level brought in thousands of dollars for ILAP, a Maine organization that will help immigrants and refuges reconnect family members, fight unfair legal proceedings, and challenge the racism and vandalism that has plagued them from the start, but has increased since Trompi started talking his nationalist nonsense.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I have a novel in the works, a play, many stories, various essays. Just plowing forward.
Is the turmoil and fear many Americans are experiencing feeding or forming your work in any way?
It's making it hard to concentrate. and I'm definitely going to give a novel's worth of time to fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American way.
What else are you doing to try to make a difference?
I'm really going to work on 2018. I think we all should in whatever way we can. And meanwhile be kind to all people, and try to engage swing voters and right-wingers, show them a thoughtful person who agrees with them on this or that (those trade agreement have been devastating) in order to keep their hearts open to my next thought (immigrants aren't taking your jobs away--your corporate and billionaire overlords are). And try to write more op-eds, call my congress people often, tweet back at Donald, mock his nonsense, and yes, keep it clear that he is not legitimate.
What do you hope other authors will do?
Using their pens with wisdom to counter the disinformation and outright lies, write op-eds, write brilliant tweets, use their humor to gain traction with a audience, preach to that audience, never back down.
Bill Roorbach’s next book is The Girl of the Lake, a collection of stories coming from Algonquin in June, 2017. Also from Algonquin are The Remedy for Love, a finalist for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the bestselling Life Among Giants, which won a Maine Literary Award in 2012. An earlier collection, Big Bend, won the Flannery O'Connor and O. Henry prizes in 2000. His memoir in nature, Temple Stream, just released in a new paperback edition by Down East Books, won the Maine Literary Award in nonfiction 2005. He’s just been named a 2018 Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellow. Bill lives in Farmington and Scarborough, Maine, with his wife, Juliet Karelsen, who is a visual artist, and their daughter, Elysia Roorbach, an aspiring ballerina and full-time teen.
You can follow Bill on Twitter and Facebook, or learn more about his work at his website. For humor and inspiration, have a read on the Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour blog Bill co-hosts with New York Times Bestselling author David Gessner.
Read more entries in the Writers Resist series here.
Suzanne DeWitt Hall is the author of Rumplepimple, a hilarious illustrated story book featuring a misunderstood doggy hero and his two moms. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter, or check out her website.
Rumplepimple paperback version
Rumplepimple e-book version
Rumplepimple audio-book version