Stockbyte/Getty
READ MORE ABOUT:
John Wray's third novel, Lowboy, is a man-hunt for the title character (real name: Will Heller), a sixteen year old paranoid schizophrenic who's bailed on his institution, gone off his meds, and is moving through the subway system with a single ambition: save the world from global warming. Lowboy's chain-smoking mother and a missing persons specialist, are after him, and the novel moves back and forth between their narrative and his. Lowboy is a strange young hero—fragile, damaged, immediately likable—whose answer to global warming is just as troubling, and just as likable, as he is.
Look, if you're going to read the book and you enjoy surprises, then don't read any of the reviews just yet because they're full of spoilers. Just read the book. If you want to get to know a character named Citizen who was apparently cut from the novel, Wray, (whom Granta included in their Best of Young American Novelists 2) is on Twitter tweeting little 140-character-or-less nuggets of fiction.
Here's Wray on his writing process and using the subway as his temporary office: "Three years ago, not long after I'd begun Lowboy, I made a decision that—in retrospect—even I find slightly odd: to write as much of the novel as possible on the New York City subway. The reasons for this admittedly drastic step ranged from the practical (subway cars have no internet access, no cell phone reception, and next to no procrastination options) to the wildly romantic, if not outright ridiculous. Like some over-eager method actor, a part of me was convinced that I'd write about the subway more vividly and honestly if I immersed myself in it absolutely. Fully half of Lowboy's narrative takes place underground, much of it in the subway tunnels, so getting the look, smell, and feel of subterranean New York right was crucial to the book's success. It also happened to be cheaper than renting an office." There's an idea.
If you're thinking about going on your own train adventure, check out our 6 Essential Train Travel Tips.
Related Posts:
Meet Laura Stec, Author of Cool Cuisine
How to Ride the Subway
EBooks are Cool
-
- {}
