‘She felt like this intriguing superhero to me’

Elizabeth LaBoone says, I liked the book so much, I would have enjoyed Mazie continuing her entries until a later age. Why didn’t the diary go longer than Mazie at age 41+?

Jami Attenberg replies: The information I had about the real Mazie — an essay by Joseph Mitchell in his collection Up in the Old Hotel — covered her life when she was in her forties, and I had an idea of what her life was like after that, too. What I was most interested in were the years that weren’t covered, where I couldn’t fill in the blanks with reality. Mitchell was really skilled at creating little mysteries about the people he profiled, leaving this breadcrumb trail of details about them that led somewhere, just not everywhere. And she felt like this intriguing superhero to me, and the book was an opportunity to create her origin story.

Vicky Tobiana wonders, is Mazie happy with the way her life turned out?

Jami Attenberg replies: Oh, Vicky, is anyone ever really happy with how their lives turn out? Isn’t there always room for improvement? Aren’t we all full of regrets on occasion? Is this just me?

Anyway, I suspect she was content with her role in the world. She found the things that fulfilled her needs, had outlets for her energy. She had family and friends she loved, and who loved her back. She was admired by her community. That seems like it would be enough. It would be enough for me — close enough, anyway.

Jocelyn Heisel asks, why did you choose to use the documentary/interview style to tell Mazie’s story instead of a more straightforward narrative? In what ways was this style restrictive/freeing?

Jami Attenberg replies: I wanted to add a context to it that writing it purely as a firstperson diary couldn’t achieve. There was information I needed that felt unnatural coming out of Mazie’s mouth. I had been thinking about what people in her life I’d like to ask questions, and then I realized I could just invent them! And so I did. I also felt like if it was just purely Mazie’s voice it would be too one note, just a story about a good-hearted woman and that was it. The chorus of voices added a more complicated texture to it.

Anne-Marie Doherty says, the book flowed so easily in spite of the different voices switching throughout. Did the writing process flow as easily as it reads? Is the constant switching of narrator a tricky way to write — or does that come naturally to you?

Jami Attenberg replies: I remember thinking when I made the decision to add the voices that I’d suddenly made it easier because it felt so much more flexible and malleable. Oh, I’m so smart, I thought. I could just toss in a new character whenever I needed a different piece of information. But, of course, all I had done was make it a different kind of hard, because the pacing became so much more crucial to the flow of the book. So while writing a multitude of voices is something that is part of my strength as a writer, the pacing and structure of the book became instantly more challenging. For example, during editing process, I’d have 30 pages in a row of Mazie’s diary, and my editor would say, “You really need to put in another character’s voice here to break it up, it’s just been too long since we’ve heard from one of them.” So, there was a constant reassessment of the flow and balance of all the voices. There were just a lot of moving parts that needed a specific kind of attention that’s different than if you just have a straight, linear narrative. My goal was to make sure none of the threads showed or my hand was felt. Susan Gottman says, you must of done quite a bit of research for this novel. Did you ever meet anyone who had met Mazie? Jami Attenberg replies: I’ve never met anyone in person, but I have spoken to one man on the phone and emailed with a few people, but only after I had written the book. They were actually all lovely to talk to — these are people into their 80s or older who knew her when they were children — but for the most part, they didn’t offer up any new information to me. They mostly just reconfirmed what I already knew: that she was a wonderful woman, and a wellknown, important part of her community. Oh, and they also all mentioned one specific detail: that she wore too much makeup.