Adam Lenain
Author Interview - Adam Lenain
Author of Last of the Famous International Playboys
I always find it difficult to summarize Last of the Famous International Playboys. It's such a basic question, but is it a coming of age story? Is it a campus novel? Is it like Bright Lights Big City? Is it like The Catcher in the Rye? Is it closer to Demon Copperhead or Fight Club? Does it explore toxic masculinity or the mental health of young men? I suppose it's a little bit of all those things.
For me, Last of the Famous International Playboys is a story about a young man in search of happiness, and what sets it apart is a unique narrative voice and some really sharp dialogue.
Author Interview - Adam Lenain
Author I draw inspiration from:
I don't think I could pick just one. I seem to gravitate to authors with a distinctive style and narrative voice. There is a rhythm to good fiction.
When I think about the writers who influenced Last of the Famous International Playboys, I’d have to start with Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye. It opened my eyes as a young man to a more conversational style of writing. Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities had a similar impact—just a freedom with punctuation and voice. Nabokov’s use of language was also inspiring. I don’t think either Lolita or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby have particularly compelling plots, but you stick with them just to see how the sentences are constructed. Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is like that. Norman Mailer wrote a book called Tough Guys Don’t Dance which I thought was interesting stylistically as well. Philip Roth is another. His writing is pretty fearless. Zadie Smith’s White Teeth is also good. It starts off slow, and I think she might have pulled a punch at the end, but everything in between is compelling. It creates the necessary forward momentum for a good story. I admire John Williams and his novel Stoner. I also think Walker Percy is great. Many of these books or authors are actually alluded to in some way in Last of the Famous International Playboys. Some are obvious. Others are hidden more like easter eggs.
Author Interview - Adam Lenain | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
For some reason, I like to read in public spaces like libraries, cafes, or the lobby of a nice hotel.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Humbert Humbert from Lolita by Nabokov. One of us does not get out of that elevator alive.
Author Interview - Adam Lenain | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I’ve always been drawn to fiction. I read a lot as a kid, but I was intimidated by the amount of reading I’d have to do to major in English in college, so I became an Econ major and sort of left the literary world behind. As a senior at Yale, I was involved in an accident that caused me to rethink the future and life in general, so even though I was already headed to law school, I decided I was going to write a novel.
What's interesting is that I wrote most of Last of the Famous International Playboys while in law school (so almost 30 years ago now). It was originally intended to be a story about young men behaving badly, almost an Entourage-style celebration of that sort of masculinity. Back then, you submitted to literary agents by printing out a hard copy of the first three or so chapters and then mailing them via regular mail along with a query letter and a self-addressed stamped return envelope. It was a cumbersome process, so I only sent out six queries. I received four positive responses, all from prominent literary agencies that still exist, so I thought I was on my way. But the book wasn’t done, and I wasn’t capable at that time of finishing it. I just couldn't figure out how to weave all the material into a compelling story with a satisfying end, so nothing happened with it, and I gave up, which was really disappointing.
I graduated from law school, started my first job, got married, had twins—basically, life intervened. I put the manuscript down for years. I didn’t pick it up again until my kids started college, but when I did, I knew I had something. It was like that narrative voice had been frozen in amber. The dialogue too. That’s what we sounded like. That’s how we spoke to one another—rapid, witty, crossfire dialogue that often involved multiple parties. And, with a fifty year-old father’s perspective, I could also see how to tie it all together and end it. It wasn’t a celebration of toxic masculinity. It was a criticism of it.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I prefer paperback, the floppier the better. I don't like dust jackets or the size of a hardback. And I can't get into ebooks at all. I like a wall filled with books.
The last book I read:
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. It was fantastic. I'm not sure it's even possible to count all the ways you might have met your end in the old west.
Author Interview - Adam Lenain | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Definitely computer. I can't imagine writing in long hand with pen and paper. I don't write linearly. My process is all about layering, so I go back and forth within the text constantly. I'm not sure how I could do that efficiently without a computer.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Huck Finn from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Author Interview - Adam Lenain | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I'd play centerfield for the San Diego Padres.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I suppose the '50s. I wouldn't mind wearing a tie to the grocery store.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Paris.
My signature drink:
A good bourbon ... neat.
Favorite artist:
Van Gogh. He just had a wonderfully different way of seeing the world. He also has a minor role in Last of the Famous International Playboys, and of course the cover art is his.
Number one on my bucket list:
I like to fish in my spare time, so there are endless fishing trips I'd like to take. Fly fishing for bonefish is probably at the top of the list, but Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks is my happy place.
Find more from the author:
website: https://www.adamlenain.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/adam_lenain
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adam.lenain
About Adam Lenain:
Author Interview - Adam Lenain
Adam Lenain is a corporate attorney in San Diego, California. He graduated from Yale University where he played both baseball and football. Last of the Famous International Playboys is his first novel.
