Ford’s novel focus
There are times in life when one has no need of the imagination. Asked whether novelists should chronicle 9/11 in their fiction, Norman Mailer had a solid piece of advice to offer: ‘‘Wait ten years,” he said. ‘‘It will take that long for you to make
Back in 2001, Richard Ford, one of America’s most revered literary authors, was pondering the same dilemma and coming to a similar conclusion. While many of his writer colleagues, fellow big-hitters such as Jonathan Safran Foer and JayMcI nerney, were off creating 9/11-based novels (and setting themselves up for mixed critical reactions),Mississippi-born Ford retreated to his converted boatshed near his home in Maine.
There, he continued work on a novel - the third ...
