Michael Gross
Author Interview - Michael Gross
Author of Spillage
Spillage is a wild play on the Faustian musical Damn Yankees, a rock and roll romance and a wickedly comic throwback to the chaos of New York City’s darkest days. Set in 1976, the novel takes place when the Big Apple is in sorry shape. Besieged on all sides, the city has become a graffiti-coated, garbage-filled, crime-ridden cauldron teetering on the edge of total collapse. Adding to New York’s towering woes, a revolutionary group called the Satanic Vanguard has kidnapped the mayor, set fire to Coney Island, and threatened further mayhem. All that Gotham has to hope for are its resurgent Yankees, who’ve come back from the dead to reach the World Series by riding the arm of their rookie pitching phenom Nick Spillage.
Author Interview - Michael Gross
Author I draw inspiration from:
When I began writing Spillage back in 1976, Tom Robbins was an author I admired, and I especially loved Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Recent readers have told me they see his influence in terms of voice, sensibility and humor. Other writers popular in the 70s who also influenced me were Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Hunter S. Thompson.
Author Interview - Michael Gross | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
On the beach. I spend a lot of time on Fire Island these days.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Captain John Yossarian from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. I imagine we’d have a blast comparing notes on the absurdity of life and our respective times while waiting for the elevator to get unstuck.
Author Interview - Michael Gross | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
There was no big “Aha” moment. I got serious about becoming an author while I was in college, and I first started thinking that I could achieve that dream when I won a grant to write fiction from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation upon graduation. But, the path to achieving that goal was a lot more circuitous than I thought it would be.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I like hardbacks because these are generally the best way to get a book when it first comes out. Also, they are the best to save; there’s something more permanent about them. Paperbacks work best on the beach, where I spend a lot of time reading. eBooks are best when I travel.
The last book I read:
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Loved the book, as well as his more recent work, The Covenant of Water.
Author Interview - Michael Gross | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I make notes by pen on a legal pad and edit by scribbling on printouts but do my writing on computer. With Spillage, editing the novel after putting it down for some 40 years, there was a lot of scribbling!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Huck Finn, from Mark Twain’s Huckelberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. I love his sense of adventure, resourcefulness and empathy. He really goes to bat for his friends!
Author Interview - Michael Gross | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
In my spare time now, and all-consumingly for more than 45 years, I counsel companies on how to manage their communications during crises.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I love the flapper era from the roaring 20s.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I’ve traveled a lot over the years for business and vacations over the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Still on my bucket list are India for culture, Africa for wildlife, and New Zealand for its sheer distance from home.
My signature drink:
Tequila on the rocks with lime.
Favorite artist:
Picasso. I love the way he broke new ground and turned abstraction into an emotional force. Guernica is one of my all-time favorite paintings. Gustav Klimt and Mark Chagall also rank high on my list and make appearances in Spillage.
Number one on my bucket list:
Dancing at my youngest daughter’s wedding in May to the young man who created the fabulous retro cover art for Spillage. That reminds me, I need to break from my author interviews to write a toast!
Anything else you'd like to add:
To learn more about me and my book, please visit SpillageBook.com
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/michaeljongross
https://www.facebook.com/michaeljongross
x.com/spillageauthor
About Michael Gross:
Author Interview - Michael Gross
Michael Gross began writing Spillage in 1976, while working as managing editor of Fiction magazine, teaching, and earning his MFA at New York’s City College. Gross holds a BA from Trinity College and an MBA from New York University and received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. In 1978, he embarked on a forty-five-year career in crisis communications, culminating in his serving as CEO of Finsbury (now FGS Global). He is married with three children and three grandchildren and divides his time between Brooklyn and Fire Island, New York. To learn more, please follow him on Facebook @michaeljongross and Instagram @michaeljongross.
