The drugs, the sex, the lies ... the fiction
Jade Sharma is trying to break rules. Her debut novel, “Problems” (Coffee House Press: 208 pp., $16.95 paper) begins with all-consuming monotony: “Somewhere along the way there stopped being new days.” Maya, the narrator, is addicted to heroin, in a loveless marriage, having an affair with a guy who isn’t really interested in her and struggling with an eating disorder.
The book is a brisk, mordantly funny, fragmented narrative that is refreshingly honest, even though Maya is a liar. Sharma, 36, lives in New York City. We spoke in her apartment on the Lower East Side; this interview has been edited for length and clarity; a longer version is online. How did you end up becoming a writer?
I wasn’t much of a reader growing up. I thought books were super boring and only dorky people read them.
I loved music. I was obsessed with Nirvana and hip-hop and country and Merle Haggard and Steve Earle. And Bob Dylan. They’re telling stories. So I started writing poetry or spoken word. [Sharma was part of a Slam poetry team that went to the national competition in 2001]. But then .... I needed a challenge. I needed something that was going to give me that mystery back.
Somebody gave me a copy of “Fear of Flying” and I [thought]. “Oh, my God, here’s a female narrator I can relate to because she’s smart, she’s funny, and she likes being smacked on the butt. She likes men.”.… I went into an MFA program at the New School, and that’s where my book was written. You write, “It is an art to make yourself so unlovable.” Are you drawn to characters who aren’t traditionally considered likable?
My ex, he did a lot of the editing in my book when it was a baby. I used to secretly tape our fights and then transcribe them and then make him edit them, and he obviously got really mad. He said, “Why would you even write that? It’s embarrassing and humiliating.” Like for both of us. I said, “Because that’s what’s interesting.” You don’t want to read about a couple who is happy and communicates well and their stocks are doing good. Do you think some of Maya’s internal conflicts also come from the disconnected but overly connected society that we live in?
I mean I personally just hate Facebook. You should have to wonder what happened to these people, not see their 10th baby. I think with Maya, she’s so real. And even though she’s a liar, it’s kind of a Holden Caulfield-type situation. He’s like a liar who hates falsehoods. She lies constantly. She leads a double life. But at the same time she’s so honest all the time. So I think for her that’s what’s alienating. And social media definitely makes people more fake. You don’t live in a TV show, you know what I mean? Everybody’s branding who they are, and that’s very lonely. Why do you think Maya feels so alone in the world?
She does say she has a mental illness and she’s in the psych ward. But I think it’s also an age thing .... you reach in your 30s. It’s so weird because you never see it coming. In your 20s you’re like, “We’re all going to be best friends forever and it’s going to be awesome.” And everybody’s got big dreams, you know? And in my circle the first girl who left was like, “I think I want to have a kid.” Then all of a sudden everybody else starts doing stuff like that. The book is written in fragments. Tell me about the structure.
That came naturally. I’m sure I didn’t invent it. But I really like digressions, and so I wanted to be able to write like dialogue. She goes into the bookstore and has a dialogue with somebody and then all of a sudden there’s a break so you don’t expect continuity. The You write, “The thing you didn’t realize when you were fourteen and thought Kurt Cobain was God was that not every weirdo with an ironic tee from Urban Outfitters makes it.” This book is definitely about disillusionment. Do you ever feel that way?
I’ve definitely gone through periods. I was super ambitious when I had a lot to rebel against growing up. Nobody in my family was supportive about being creative. So when I had something to fight for, I was like, “I’m going to do it. I’m going to go out there.” So I did it with everything I had. That’s always been my biggest drive, is to compete. And then at the New School, I was competing against the other students. I wanted to show them up. But there’s been disillusionment, I think, in terms of money. And when you choose to do something different you slowly begin to realize that even the most liberal people equate money and a job that sounds fancy with intelligence. So that’s where my disillusionment comes from.