5 QUESTIONS FOR FRED ARMISEN
SNL and Portlandia star Fred Armisen explores the world of hipsters in Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors (Grand Central, on sale Tuesday), written with Carrie Brownstein, co-star of the IFC show. Armisen spoke with USA TODAY’s Lindsay Deutsch.
1 How would you describe the world of Portlandia? It’s not a travel guide of Portland (Ore.) but of the fictional, dreamy place that is Portlandia, a world of coffee shops and bicycles.
2 Why did you guys decide to write a travel guide? It goes with the territory of trying to make a complete world for our fans. I know that when I’ma fan of something, I want every embellishment, every bell and whistle, every feather in the nest. There was also stuff we wanted to do in the show that didn’t really work in live-action form, so we were able to put it in the book.
3 Like what? We wanted to do a sketch of what Portlandia was like during the Civil War, so we set it up in the book as a series of old-time-looking letters of someone who is really into the war, then loses enthusiasm, flakes out and just wants to sit around and drink coffee.
4 Who do you imagine reading the book? Grown-ups? People like me? Fans of music and comedy. I mean grownups in the heart, not body.
5 What do the people of Portland think of Portlandia? The people of Portland have reacted really well. They get it, and they’re warm, giving and excited for it all.