Andrew O'Hagan is appearing at teh Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.
Andrew O'Hagan is the author of the novels Our Fathers, Personality and Be Near Me, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His work has appeared in the London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The Guardian. He lives in London, England. His new novel is The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe.
Pitch: You have 30 words, tell us about your latest book.
In 1960 Frank Sinatra gave Marilyn Monroe a dog. She called him Mafia Honey. The dog loved art, politics, biscuits, and interior decoration. He saw everything. This is his story.
Process: What's your writing routine?
My basic routine is to smoke as many cigarettes and drink as many martinis as I can, for as many months as I can, until I get so guilty I have to write something down. In this I am following the example of Rabbie Burns and Ernest Hemingway. The only difference is that I sometimes go to Mass to pray for forgiveness.
Public: Recount the best and/or worst experience you have had at literary events.
My best experience was once at the Sydney Writers Festival where I was so funny and so wise that the audience levitated and then tried to elect me Prime Minister. But that isn't very typical.
My worst experience is more typical, where once, at a festival in Cognac, France, a bloke came up to tell me he hated the sound of my books but could I recommend a place where he might buy some upscale brandy.
Product: E-books. Revelation or abomination?
Oh, I love e-books. Good writing will sing off the screen and off the page just the same. On the other hand, there's one serious disadvantage to e-books that nobody has considered. What are the book-burners going to do? I'm from Scotland via Ireland, places where people have a history of burning books -- and Germany is a near neighbour, and Iraq's never off the telly. E-books may prove to be a serious challenge to the unenlightened. On the up side, nobody will be burning books.
Packing: What did you put in your suitcase to read en route to Vancouver?
I've got Saul Bellow's Letters. He's a writer who really replenishes the imagination, gives the reader new things to think about. And that for me is a great and beautiful addition to life.