The Write Way Café welcomes author Paul Thaler, who embraces childhood memories and transports readers to life in the 1960's.
When did you first have the thought you'd like to write a book?
Bronxland is my first novel after having written two nonfiction books earlier on, so that pull to write “long” has been there for quite a while. I suspect the idea began brewing during my early professional career as a journalist. I found that I wanted more to say beyond the 750-word story, so writing books was a natural extension. And it’s been empowering, energizing and a wonderful form of legitimization as a writer.
What was your path to getting Bronxland written and published? What type of research did you do?
Bronxland was six years in the making and the end result of a rather “interesting” (read: “agonizing”) journey both in terms of the writing process and then publication. The novel actually began as a memoir centered on my years growing up in the Bronx of the early 1960s. After spending several years with that book I thought I was done and ready to publish – only for that thought to come crashing down. Among other colleagues, one friend pondered whether my own family members might be interested in reading this memoir—but that was the extent of my readership. Since I was going for a slightly larger audience than my wife and kids, I went back to my computer. As it turned out, I was grateful for my friend’s honest if somewhat brutal appraisal. Unshackled, my memoir morphed into a much more enjoyable ride for readers (at least I hoped so). The publishing part, however, was less pleasurable—and I won’t bore you with all the gory details. Only to say, that I finally found my publisher (and thank you Black Opal Books), after a year of wandering in the desert in search of an agent and publisher. Rejections became so deflating that I was tempted to send off my manuscript and cover letter signing off as Stephen King. But somehow I didn’t think that a book about a Bronx kid would fool them.
Where did the idea for Bronxland come from?
It’s been said that most fiction is autobiography, and that is certainly true of
Bronxland. The time spent with the memoir was put to good use, and a number of events and characters from the novel were born from this original source. One reviewer called the book “a memory dream,” and I think that’s an apt description of
Bronxland.
Are your main characters completely imaginary or do they have some basis in real people? Do they reflect aspects of yourself?
Real life has certainly informed this story and that includes a cast of characters that form around my alter ego, 13-year old Paul Wolfenthal. While I have changed names, I’ve kept close to actual people from my past. Here is the bully (“Tommy Branigan”) that besieged me back in my early Bronx days; the Irish girl (“Dee-Dee O’Hara”) with the hazel eyes and dimpled smile who broke my heart; my seventh grade math teacher and Marilyn Monroe look-alike (“Miss Bonnet”), who stirred my imagination, and not in a good way. My family and relatives are also present; to honor them I’ve used their real names. Historic figures are also woven into these Bronx episodes. They include John Kennedy, who also was a Bronx kid (yes, it’s true), and plays a part in my growing up (both in my fictional and real world). Other famous characters make an appearance as well, among them Richard Nixon, Roger Maris, and Harry Houdini (who Paul “visits” one Halloween). I admit to also using names of current friends as an unscrupulous way to get them to buy the book in search of their “character."
Did you face any blocks while writing the book, and if so, how did you handle them?
Because I had so much “raw material” I didn’t run into too many blocks with
Bronxland. But there were those times that I’d run into a wall, the result of poor planning (I don’t outline my books), or, simply, a nonfunctioning creative side of my brain. If I was stuck, I would take a break, walk away from the computer for even an entire day, and, hopefully, come back more clear-headed. This usually worked for me. However – your question dredged up a memory that I thought I had repressed. A number of years ago, I had been given a significant contract from a major publisher only to fall victim to the writing block of all blocks partway through the project. I made my way to Chapter 7 of a historical book only to stop—for good. I discovered I just had nothing more to say. Unfortunately, I was about 200 pages short of the promised book. I wound up with no book, a folded contract, and a vow never to take on a subject that was better left to other writers. A lesson there about reaching too far past your writing comfort zone.
What aspect of writing gives you the most trouble?
The main drawback in my process – a problem always – is in trying to be too “perfect” with each word, sentence, paragraph. The computer thesaurus is both a blessing and a curse, stopping me in mid-sentence for the “right word” or phrase. I would be better off just, well, writing, then coming back to do all the polishing that is necessary, but can wait. Best to just get the story down. Writing dialogue can also be a challenge, but in
Bronxland it became much more fun once I found my characters and their voice.
What have been surprises you've encountered while writing the book and after?
I’m not sure if this qualifies as a surprise, but I felt something of a sense of loss after giving up
Bronxland to my publisher. I had lived with my characters for so long, that I found myself missing my daily engagement with them. As corny/crazy as it sounds, I kind of wanted them to stick around, only grudgingly sending them off. There is something intensely personal about writing fiction; essentially, giving birth to characters and their world. I felt that in
Bronxland though and wouldn’t be surprised if other writers have suffered from such insanity.
What did you learn? For instance, what did you learn about yourself, your process, the writing world; about life in the Bronx?
Writing a book truly inspires a sense of confidence; the equivalent to running the marathon—that you have broken through some barrier that seems out of reach for most people. But more than that, this novel in particular gave me the chance to return back to a special time and place in my life. They say you can’t go home again – but it really was nice to visit.
Tell us about your writing space and how or why it works for you.
There is my computer, printer, desk – and a closed door. Some writers can work with other distractions around. I can’t. I need solitude. I remember an interview with Jonathan Franzen after publication of
The Corrections. Working out of his Harlem apartment, Franzen told an interviewer that he writes while wearing a blindfold and earmuffs to avoid any sensory distractions. I’m kind of like that without the blindfold and earmuffs. I just need to get lost in the silence.
What are some of your favorite books and why?
A tough one with so many. Sometimes a book just enters your life at the right time and place. Growing up there was the science fiction crew of Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, among other sci-fi writers. Philip Roth was a must read (how could any Jewish boy avoid
Portnoy’s Complaint?). Really got lost in Doctorow’s
Billy Bathgate,
Ragtime and
Daniel. (He was also a Bronx kid, so that was an added plus). I continue to be a fan of historical novels, and Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden are two of the best storytellers in this genre. I’ve also read everything that Dennis Lehane has written including,
Shutter Island,
Mystic River and
The Given Day. There are the more “serious” reads that satisfy a different part of my brain and fuel my other life as an academic (my day job is as a university professor)
.
What are you working on now?
I have a few ideas in mind. Among them is returning to my alter ego, Paul Wolfenthal, older, no longer a resident of
Bronxland, but still trying to avoid having the rug to be pulled out from under him.
Would you like to try your hand at writing a different genre? Which one and why?
At least for the time being, I will be playing it safe and keep writing fiction that intuitively feels right. I might enjoy, say, a good crime story, but I would not want to denigrate the genre and insult those readers by pretending I know anything about forensics outside of what I have watched on CSI.
If you were not a writer, what would your dream job be?
Playing clarinet in the New York Philharmonic and soloist in Dvorak’s New World Symphony.
The top-rated novel on Goodreads' list of "Best Historical Coming of Age Books"!
Welcome to Bronxland by Paul Thaler—and this uproarious and heartrending coming of age novel set in the Bronx circa '60s. Paul Wolfenthal is a peculiar 13-year-old kid grappling with the absurdities of his young Bronx life circa 1960. He visits the dead, hears voices in his head, despises Richard Nixon, is infatuated with his Marilyn Monroe look-alike math teacher, and is a choice victim for the neighborhood’s sadistic bully. And then Paul really starts running into trouble.
Paul is, in fact, a kid in search of heroes, alive and otherwise, and finds them in John Kennedy and Harry Houdini, both of whom cross into his life. But these are strange and even dangerous times. Hovering in the shadows are “the demons” that haunt Paul’s young childhood dreams, only to come alive and shatter his world. One steals away a neighborhood child. And then his president.
Set against the turbulent history of the times, Bronxland tugs on a kaleidoscope of emotions. A place of the heart known to all of us, with our own story to tell of growing up, of trying to make sense of our life, with everything that comes along.
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https://blackopalbooks.com/bronxland/
Bronxland buy links: Amazon Barnes & Noble
Paul Thaler is a former journalist and the author of the critically acclaimed
The Spectacle: Media and the Making of the OJ Simpson Story, and
The Watchful Eye: American Justice in the Age of the Television Trial.
Bronxland is his debut novel, released (October 2017) by Black Opal Books. In addition to his writings, Paul
has also been an on-air media commentator for numerous television cable news programs and documentaries including those on CNN and HBO. He holds both a Masters of Arts in Journalism and a Ph.D. in Communications from New York University. Paul is a longtime resident of the Bronx, New York, where he lives with his wife, Amy, and their three children, Matthew, Robby and Rebecca.
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