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Leif Enger Is 'More Intrigued by Questions and Less Satisfied With Answers' By Danny Klecko
For 20 years, Leif Enger worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio before writing his bestselling debut novel, "Peace Like a River," which was published in 2001. He’s also the author of “So Brave, Young, and Handsome,” and “Virgil Wander.” I had the opportunity to ask Enger, who lives in Duluth, some questions about his current work, “I Cheerfully Refuse.” Danny Klecko : I believe this is the best book you've written. I very much liked its apocalyptic/Orwellian flavor. Leif Enger : I'm a reader first and tend to write the story I'd most want to settle in with for the evening – a tale about people I like, in a place I never want to leave. Those elements are foremost in "Cheerfully," so I hope readers will feel welcomed into the pages. The dystopian society these characters occupy — with its resource scarcity, malignant ruling class and climate upheaval — only extends many developments playing out today. My aim was to see where people find hope, when the very idea of a future is under threat.
"I'm a reader first, and tend to write the story I'd most want to settle in with for the evening – a tale about people I like, in a place I never want to leave."
As a writer and a sailor, were you chomping at the bit to put a boat in a book?
Your descriptions of Lake Superior surpass beautiful. Was it humbling, trying to capture the spirit of such a holy place? In a way Superior made the story easy to write — if I was struggling to set the mood for a scene, I went down and dipped my hands in the water. It was always cold, sometimes benign, sometimes majestic or brash or violent. Whatever the lake was doing, I put that feeling in the pages.
Spending time on a sailboat you soon notice it responds to wind and water less like a machine than like a living creature. It wants the same things you do — a smooth motion through the waves, a quiet passage across the bay. It also seems to want to take care of you and rewards your practice and patience by keeping you safe in the gusts. It was enormous fun to write this nautical adventure.
Read more of this story on Next Avenue.org
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JUNE 2024
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