Episode 223 with Sarah Rose Etter, Master Balancer of Surrealism, Realism, Dark Humor, and Themes of Grief and Anxiety that are Timely and Timeless

Notes and Links to Sarah Rose Etter’s Work

 

   For Episode 223, Pete welcomes Sarah Rose Etter, and the two discuss, among other topics, her early relationship to the written word, formative and transformative writers and writing, her love of writing in translation, her and Pete’s shared love of Hemingway’s short stories, and seeds for and salient themes related to Ripe, including housing and economic inequalities and realities, depression and anxiety as represented by the book’s “black hole,” parental/child relationships, and grief.

 

Sarah Rose Etter is the author of RIPE (published by Scribner), and The Book of X, winner of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award. Her short fiction collection, Tongue Party, was selected by Deb Olin Unferth to be published as the winner of the 2011 Caketrain Award.

Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in TIME, Guernica, BOMB, Gulf Coast, The Cut, VICE, and more. 

She has been awarded residences at the Jack  Kerouac House, the Disquiet International program in Portugal, and the Gullkistan Writing Residency in Iceland.

In 2017, she was the keynote speaker at the Society for the Study of American Women Writers conference in Bordeaux, France, where she presented on surrealist writing as a mode of feminism.

She earned her B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University and her M.F.A. in Fiction from Rosemont College. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Buy Ripe

 

Sarah's Website

 

New York Times Review of Ripe by Alexandra Chang

 

NPR Interview

 

At about 2:00, Sarah shouts out the literary landscape and physical landscape 

At about 2:45, Sarah talks about her childhood relationship with the written word

At about 4:30, Pete and Sarah exchange formative stories and writing that opened up analytical and emotional taps, including Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and “Cat in the Rain,” as well as Plath’s “Metaphors” 

At about 5:40, Sarah talks about how and why she started writing with short stories

At about 6:50, Sarah reflects on ideas of obsession with subject matter when writing

At about 7:22, Sarah shares a few examples of chill-inducing writing for her as a reader

At about 8:55, Sarah discusses contemporary writers who thrill and challenge her: Carmen Maria Machado, Hallie Butler, Kristen Arnett, Melissa Broder, and many works in translation, like Olga T

At about 15:00, Sarah discusses seeds for Ripe, including how her personal life and the world’s recent issues informed the book

At about 19:00, Pete and Sarah talk about grief and sharing

At about 22:10, Pete sets the book’s exposition, and Sarah gives background on the powerful and meaningful first line of the book

At about 25:30, Sarah and Pete compare notes on first draft and heavy editing 

At about 27:15, The two discuss the black hole, a common symbol in the book

At about 29:50, Pete compliments the ways in which Sarah presents the narrator Cassie and the frenzied Silicon Valley lifestyle

At about 30:55, Sarah discusses the ways in which Cassie is the person she is due to her parents’ influences

At about 33:00, Sarah charts and breaks down a bit of her writing outlook and style and schedule 

At about 34:30, Sarah references Parasite and Uncut Gems as examples of storytelling and escalating tensions as so powerful 

At about 35:50, Sarah talks about her black hole research and earlier permutations of the black hole and its place in the book

At about 37:50, Sarah responds to Pete’s questions about a possible history of depression within Cassie's family and without

At about 40:10, Sarah discusses the strengths and beauty of Cassie’s relationship with her father, as well as some of his toxic qualities

At about 41:20, Sarah discusses the issues revolving around money and the high cost of living

At about 43:10, The two discuss the book’s title and the symbolism of the pomegranate and ideas of mythical connections and underworlds

At about 45:25, The two shout out Stephanie Feldman and connections between Ripe and Stephanie’s Saturnalia

At about 46:05, Pete references some cringy and skillful scenes involving the workplace

At about 47:10, Sarah speaks on the often-unchecked CEOs and bigshots in tech companies

At about 50:05, Pete cites a few moments worthy of Cassie’s “crystal jar” 

At about 50:40, Pete reads and heaps praise upon a particularly profound and apt passage

At about 52:20, Sarah reacts to Pete’s question about the staying power of her book

At about 54:45, Pete and Sarah discuss the book’s ending

At about 59:00, Sarah talks about exciting new projects

 

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    Please tune in for Episode 224 with Peter Coviello, a scholar of American literature and queer theory, whose work addresses the entangled histories of sex, devotion, and intimate life in imperial modernity. He’s also the author of six books, including Is There God After Prince?: Dispatches from an Age of Last Things, which was selected for The Millions’ “Most Anticipated” list for 2023.

   The episode will air on February 20.