Jane Bernstein
Author Interview - Jane Bernstein
Author I draw inspiration from: Heather Sellers, poet, essayist, author of the incredible memoir, You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know. From the first sentence, she brings me right into whatever story she’s chosen to tell. Her work is utterly absorbing and profound. Unforgettable. She’s also a brilliant reader and teacher. Full disclosure: we have been trading pages since 2011.
Akhil Sharma is another writer who inspires me. His novel, Family Life, is about a family who cares for a son who becomes profoundly disabled after an accident. I read this story because I’ve written about disability in my memoirs and my new novel, The Face Tells the Secret. But then I reread it twice. Sharma had the courage to write and discard draft after draft of this story for twelve years, until he was satisfied. It’s a perfect novel -- every line, every chapter.
Author Interview - Jane Bernstein
Favorite place to read a book: Curled up in the big, wide,rose-colored chair in the corner of my sunroom.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: The adorable, mischievous Pippi Longstocking, with her red hair and freckles, and her super-human strength. She can climb to any height, can lift a horse with one hand. If she couldn’t somehow get us out of that elevator, we’d still have fun together.
Author Interview - Jane Bernstein
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: At some point in childhood I learned that the stories I loved didn’t just magically appear on the page, that someone had written them. Really? I want to do that, I thought.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Hardback when I’m at home, paperback in my suitcase, audiobooks for long car trips.
The last book I read: I read a lot. This summer’s favorites include The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, The Body in Question by Jill Ciment, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Right now I’m rereading Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin.
Author Interview - Jane Bernstein
Pen & paper or computer: A green Pelikan fountain pen on lined paper.
I bought that pen just before my first-ever writing workshop. It’s a stubby plastic pen that doesn’t look special. But the nib is a soft gold. It’s the perfect pen for this lefty and eggs me on when I lack confidence. Think of how much we’ve written together, it tells me.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Rereading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I am once again utterly captivated by Francie Nolan. She has such great spirit. She observes the grittiness around her and sees the flaws in the people she loves, and yet maintains an incredible sense of optimism.
I’d also love to hang out with pretty much all the smart, witty characters in Lorrie Moore’s fiction.
Author Interview - Jane Bernstein
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: In real life: an editor. (I’d been a magazine editor and enjoyed it.)
In an alternate reality, I’d be an Olympic-caliber long-distance runner. After many winning years, I’d buy a greenhouse and nursery. I’d continue to run recreationally, of course.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Bring on those velvet jackets from the late 1960s–early 1970s, the vests with gold braided trim, flowing bellbottoms, floppy felt hats with ribbons around the brim. Yay paisley and leather tunics, and chunky boots.
Place I’d most like to travel: Turkey and Japan.
My signature drink: In the morning: freshly ground dark roast coffee. Black, no sugar. Lots of it.
On summer evenings: A glass of crisp, dry Vinho Verde. When it gets cold, bring on the riojas.
Favorite artist: I’m drawn to Vermeer and Rembrandt and other painters from that era. I love the scenes of everyday life and depictions of ordinary Dutch people in and out of their houses.
And Picasso, every period.
Number one on my bucket list: I still dream of one day biking across the US with my daughter. But a shorter trip would also be okay.
Anything else you'd like to add: There’s nothing like a good book!
Jane Bernstein is the author of THE FACE TELLS THE SECRET (October 18, 2019; Regal House Press), as well as four additional novels and memoirs and a children’s book she co-wrote with her daughter. Her work has appeared in the New York Time Magazine, O Magazine, Redbook, Family Circle, Creative Nonfiction, The Sun and many other publications. Jane is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and a Fulbright Fellowship and is a member of the Creative Writing Program faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. You can visit her online at janebernstein.net.
Author Interview - Jane Bernstein
