Reuven Fenton
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton
Author of Goyhood
When Mayer (née Marty) Belkin fled small-town Georgia for Brooklyn nearly thirty years ago, he thought he'd left his wasted youth behind. Now he's a Talmud scholar married into one of the greatest rabbinical families in the world - a dirt-poor country boy reinvented in the image of God.
But his mother's untimely death brings a shocking revelation: Mayer and his ne'er-do-well twin brother David aren't, in fact, Jewish. Traumatized and spiritually bereft, Mayer's only recourse is to convert to Judaism. But the earliest date he can get is a week from now. What are two estranged brothers to do in the interim?
So begins the Belkins' Rumspringa through America's Deep South with Mom's ashes in tow, plus two tagalongs: an insightful Instagram influencer named Charlayne Valentine and Popeye, a one-eyed dog. As the crew gets tangled up in a series of increasingly surreal adventures, Mayer grapples with a God who betrayed him and an emotionally withdrawn wife in Brooklyn who has yet to learn her husband is a counterfeit Jew.
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton
Author I draw inspiration from:
James Lee Burke
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
An Amtrak to God knows where.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Mattie Ross from Charles Portis’s “True Grit.” I find her precociousness and stubbornness delightful. I assume she'd lecture me about my poor handling of the situation, and eventually I'd stop delighting in her. But the first few minutes would be fun.
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
In third grade, when my friend Sam and I wrote a story about a monster in a basement that went on and on and on. We enjoyed ourselves so much that it scarcely mattered that the monster disappeared from the story and never came back. It was the first time I discovered that labor isn’t laborious if you’re having fun. Later, I learned about criteria like pacing and structure and protagonists who must overcome challenges, and it wasn't as much fun.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardbacks are the traditional, ideal form of physical book. They’re more expensive than paperbacks, and I think it's the format readers take most seriously -- like, I paid for this, so I’m going to invest my time into reading it. Still, I read more paperbacks than hardbacks, because they’re cheaper and less bulky, and I feel less of a need to treat them with care. I’ve never gotten into ebooks because I’m old school. Audiobooks are my favorite format these days because I can listen while driving and running, so it's a time saver. The downside for audiobooks is that it's hard for me to concentrate on difficult prose, so I don’t listen to much literary fiction.
The last book I read:
“Campusland” by Scott Johnston. It's a perfect audiobook because it has super-straight prose and lots of plot. It dives into university politics and contemporary college life, which I care deeply about, in a very compelling way. It made me think of Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" if that novel were written today and set on a college campus.
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer all the way. Pen & paper would take too long. I tend not to outline, at least not for the first couple of drafts. In the beginning I compile a mountain of words from which I’ll carve out my story over subsequent drafts. Picture one of those elaborately sculpted sandcastles. It starts out as just a pile of sand, and gradually starts taking the crude shape of a castle with the towers and turrets and all that. My characters, who started out as two-dimensional caricatures, develop complex personalities. Plot twists and foreshadowing emerge. I find my pace. It’s all about writing draft after draft after draft, each one a little better than the last.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Ed Gentry, from “Deliverance” by James Dickey. He’s a straight shooter, but not so straight that he can’t be persuaded to canoe down the treacherous Chattooga River with three other guys. He’s smart and humble and guardedly soulful. When the adventure takes a major turn south, he summons incredible courage and saves the day. He’s someone I would trust in the wild, and someone I could carry on a deep conversation with in civilization.
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
A journalist.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
1970s.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Laos. Westerners I've spoken to who’ve been there have all described it as the most “away” place they’ve ever been. I seek that "away" feeling whenever I go anywhere, but I’ve never made it to the far east.
My signature drink:
Alcoholic!
Favorite artist:
Rembrandt.
Number one on my bucket list:
Hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/shuls_born_again/
https://twitter.com/ReuvenFen
https://www.facebook.com/reuven.fenton
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199696608-goyhood
About Reuven Fenton:
Author Interview - Reuven Fenton
Reuven Fenton has been covering breaking news for the New York Post since 2007, and has earned national recognition for his exclusive reporting on myriad national stories. He is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Columbia University School of Journalism. Goyhood is his debut novel.
