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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
What happens when you cross sexual abuse, racism, the first Gulf War and a pubescent narrator? Alicia Erian's surprisingly hilarious and deeply unsettling first novel.
Apr 2, 2005 | "My issue with fiction is there's too many damn dull moments," Alicia Erian says with characteristic candor. That's one charge you can't level at "Towelhead," Erian's provocative, taboo-defying first novel and the follow-up to her acclaimed 2001 short story collection, "The Brutal Language of Love." "Towelhead" is narrated by Jasira, a 13-year-old girl sent to Houston to live with her Lebanese father after her American mother's boyfriend takes an unsavory interest in her. A harrowing, frequently hilarious coming-of-age story, the book's depiction of abuse, racism and sexual desire resonates with frightening plausibility.
Set during the first Gulf War, "Towelhead" follows Jasira as she tries to process the ever-changing rules of her often abusive father -- whom she calls "Daddy" -- while struggling with her feelings for Mr. Vuoso, the mercurial, muscle-bound Army reservist who lives next door. Alternately cruel and crudely loving toward Jasira, Mr. Vuoso also owns an impressive stash of Playboy magazines that Jasira savors whenever she baby-sits the Vuosos' bratty son, who calls her the slur that gives the book its title. Much of the novel's suspense comes from Jasira's breathtaking tendency to make one bad decision after another, based almost solely on her need for the sexual pleasure that stands in for the love and attention lacking elsewhere in her life.
"Towelhead" is a compulsively enjoyable and thoroughly uncomfortable book to read. Its unapologetically graphic portrayal of teen sexuality and the ambiguities of physical and sexual abuse are almost certain to provoke shock and controversy. Erian, however, seems ready to handle whatever reactions her subject matter inspires, and speaks with the frankness that's at the heart of "Towelhead." The daughter of an Egyptian father and American mother, she also possesses a few striking similarities to her narrator. From Wellesley College, where she teaches writing, Erian spoke with Salon about those similarities, as well as the intricacies of racial slurs, the importance of Mary Gaitskill, and the pleasures and pitfalls of having a 13-year-old narrate your first novel.
Reading the book, the first thing that struck me was Jasira's voice -- it's so simple and naive, but consistently compelling. How did you find it?
It took a while. The first draft I wrote was 100 pages and we sold the book based on those. But then I ended up throwing them away. Part of the reason was that her voice sounded too old, and a little too detached and formal. I don't know why I was doing that. I know in part: I'd never written a novel before and I had this idea that it should sound like, hoity-toity. [Laughs]
Serious and authoritative.
Yeah! I thought, OK, enough with these silly short stories, now I have to sound fancy. Part of it was just some stupid idea I had about novels. So it was a hard voice to maintain because it wasn't an honest voice. It was exhausting. And my editor said, "You've got to work on that voice because it's a little off -- she sounds too old." So I sort of toned it down and tried to make her sound like a kid.
Was maintaining her voice a large part of the challenge of writing the novel?
It's really hard to stay in the moment of the novel. Short stories, I've learned, are kind of cheating: You're in and out, and have no obligation. With a novel, it's like every day with these people. Initially, I was going to jump ahead in time and my editor said, "Look, I'm already doing another book that jumps ahead in time, and I don't feel like doing two." That was her reasoning. But it made sense, because I thought, it's cheating. I shouldn't say that, because now everyone who has a book that jumps ahead in time will be like, Fuck her!
What made you decide to write a novel, anyway?
My agent told me to. [Laughs]
Are you serious?
Yeah, he was like, look, if you want to have any kind of career, forget about these stories. Stop messing around. I said OK. I didn't want to, but I knew he was probably right.
How long did it take you to write the book?
Three years. Which is probably not that big a deal. But it felt awful. Every minute of it. It was depressing; bad things were always happening to [Jasira]. I'm not an actor, but I have to imagine they have similar lives, having to take on people's personas. I used to work eight hours a day, but at the end, I just couldn't tolerate it for more than two. And I also worried -- it's a lot to keep track of. I can be slightly feeble. [Laughs] There aren't even that many people in the book, but everyone has to be given appropriate screen time.
Well, honestly, right until the end, I was wondering how it was going to get wrapped up.
You and me both! I had no plan. The plan was to be honest. I believe that if you tell the truth and stay in the moment with the characters, then you get the prize. The prize is that it will come together, there will be some way to make it make sense. I was banking on that, because if I know what's going to happen, I won't write it. I'll be instantly bored.
