Amity Gaige

Photo by Sarma Ozols

6 RAPPORTAGE

Being Your Best Self BY STACEY BROWNLIE

Amity Gaige has spent the majority of her summer vacation in

a somewhat primitive cabin on the grounds of a New Hampshire

boy's camp where she is accompanying her husband, Tim, who is

working for the camp. Though the location means the absence of

a telephone and perhaps other standard conveniences, this break

from teaching creative writing at the University of Rhode Island

may be a welcome one, especially for someone who loves and

respects the writing life as much as Gaige does.

0 My Darling, Amity Gaige's first novel, is a product of not only

that pure love for writing, but also of some careful listening. "I

don't really believe one really sets out knowing one's personal need

to write a novel," says Gaige over the phone from Rhode Island one

Sunday afternoon. She reveals that the story surrounding Clark

and Charlotte Adair was born in the deep cold of an Iowa winter­

with the sound of voices. The Adairs (Darling's two main charac­

ters) simply began talking, and it was Amity Gaige's eavesdropping,

along with her passion for dialogue, that fixed their conversation to

paper. Gaige then wrote what she calls "a couple of discreet scenes"

and with the encouragement of her husband Tim, who is also a

writer, continued to tell the Adair's story In the end, those first

scenes, with little change to her original dialogue, became the book's

opening sequences.

The creation and completion of this first book required time;

Gaige herself isn't sure the exact number of months and years she

has devoted to its birth. In her mind, the time spent crafting 0 My

Darling varies. Gaige admits, with a relaxed laugh that punctuates

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many of her sentences, that she may have spent anywhere from

"two to fifteen years, depending on my mood." Whatever the

factual number may be, Gaige made sure she took enough time -

enough time to be precise, and to come away from her completed

book with the feeling that she has learned at each step. With 0 My

Darling, Gaige feels she has learned "how to write a book" by doing

JUSt that. She has the material proof of her hands-on education in

the form of another nearly completed book, which has taken much

less time to produce than her first. Gaige can be more convinced

that this is evidence of a progression along the writer's life-long

learning curve since completing her second manuscript "didn't

have anything to do with confidence." 0 My Darling hadn't even

been accepted by a publisher at the time that she was completing

the second manuscript.

0 My Darling's construction required special care not simply

because it was a debut novel. The book's form has already caused

some discussion in reviews; while some claim that Darling is "plot­

deficient," many others have recognized it as something new-and

enjoyable. Gaige's story of two rather normal people who greatly

differ from each other, but share love, a home, and families through

marriage is not told in the traditional narrative. The actual plot is

minute compared to much of contemporary fiction, but the story

doesn't suffer; rather, the meat of the tale is greatly enhanced by

Gaige's style. "Momentum of books can come from very different

places," states Gaige. 0 My Darling has plenty of momentum,

thanks to Gaige's other devices, including glimpses of the

paranormal and the reader's keen sense of attachment to the main

characters and their ultimate choices.

Gaige says that she can understand why many writers become

preoccupied with plot: the narrative novel with a strong plot is a

"tried and true form" and she herself moved back toward that genre

7

Being You r Best Se lf (co ntinued )

with her second book. Despite the ease that using a familiar form

can bring to the arduous writing process, Gaige is excited to explore

the crossbreed style she employed in 0 My Darling. This first novel

hints at a long-standing interest in theatre , both onstage and as play­

wright: the chapters read like scenes, and the story of Clark and

Charlotte could successfully be told on the live stage . Gaige ener­

getically explains that she "likes the idea of creating a hybrid. If I

could aspire to something, it would have to be [to combine] the

energy of the play plus the depth of prose." This aspiration begs the

question: Are there others who have pursued a similar union' A

partial answer came from Gaige as she shared some of the books she

has recently read. One of those books, Desperate Characters by

Paula Fox, seemed, she says , to resemble her own style of fie -

all very complex beings , just as Clark and Charlotte show

themselves to be, but we also must live a sometimes frustra ting daily

life , and it is most often in those mundane bits of life that we display

our personal morality.

In conj unction with her objective tone, Gaige avoided creating

a clear protagonist for 0 My Darling, and its closing chapters don't

reveal the common denouement of one main character 's

transfor mation above another. This lack of a tru e hero was

in part des igned to show readers how normal the Adairs are.

They a re not "something special': and "they don't do

special things" like so many other protagonists in other tales. Clark

and Charlotte are a different kind of window to our world: they live

in the dull routine from day to day just like most of us do, and it

tion. Intrigued by this similarity, Gaige then learned that she brings a kind of comfort to reaffirm our subconscious knowledge

admired and was encouraged by Fox's body of work,

commenting that she "likes the way [Fox's] career has gone" and

would be content to look back on a similar repertoire someday.

Gaige's numerous experiences with the world of theatre-acting,

writing plays, simply being pan of the audience, even ushering­

will, however, likely be her most valuable resource as she

explores the surprisingly harmonious relationship between script

and manuscript.

The story of Clark and Charlotte's first house and first years of

marriage is told with great compassion and neutrality; Gaige is

careful to "give them both their fair shake. " She affirms both in the

book and in her words about the book that "in every couple, in

every marriage, there are two fully alive people with their own

dreams and vulnerabilities." Gaige was determined from the

beginning to avoid accusing one spouse more than the other and to

protect the reader from judging either one too quickly As Gaige

describes to me her circumspect approach , she seems to be finding

fresh meaning in her feelings of compassion toward both Clark and

Charlotte, while also celebrating the mystery of human

relationships. As Gaige speaks, she pauses, then reflects that the

book may actually have a "religious tinge" in the sense that we are

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that , as Gaige shows us, "none of us are graceful all the time" and

that "we all deserve sympathy" in a certain sense. Clark and

Charlotte repeatedly blunder with each other and with their own

self-awareness; despite this, they begin to discover the value of their

marriage, an imperfect and "beautiful institution. " This hopefulness

is one of the real joys of Gaige's novel; despite the numerous

imperfections of both main characters, we're reminded, through

their struggles, that partnerships are vital, that those with whom we

differ can teach us much . This theme also appears to be a reflection

of Gaige's personal happiness- in her marriage, certainly, and in her

professional relationships with students and fellow teachers-and

of her belief that "we need each other on this earth."

Behind the authorly reserve that makes Gaige's book so

successful lays a sincere zeal for the writing process and a humble

confidence in her own discernment. She freely admits that she

needs writing to be in her life and agrees with the advice of many

other authors that successful writers must "love the process" of

writing. During our brief conversation, Gaige expresses the respect

and affection for the writing life that often produce the worthiest

contributions to the world of books. She refers more than once to

the importance of a "life-long education," acknowledging it as a

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source of "power that writers can harness." Gaige has had the

benefit of numerous opportunities for both formal and informal

veins of education. She has been writing and publishing since she

was very young. In fact, 0 My Darling is not her first book. We Are

a Thunderstorm, a book of poems and related photographs for

children, was published when Gaige was only sixteen after she won

the "National Written and Illustrated By ... Awards Contest for

Students" for her age category Gaige was also published numerous

times in youth magazines, enabling her to experiment with stories,

plays, essays and poems. Gaige's more formal studies include an

undergraduate degree from Brown University and a Master of Fine

Arts from Iowa Writer's Workshop. As an instructor at the

University of Rhode Island, she has earned several fellowships,

including a Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed her to travel to

Latvia to teach writing. Yet from those early accolades until the

present, she has never "had the impulse to write because of the

praise or recognition," realizing that "praise is fleeting-it's

wonderful, but it's transient." Gaige, it seems, not only understands

that her words and paragraphs will remain long after any welcome

compliments are gone, but also the devotion-and sometimes

sacrifice-such a literary life requires.

Gaige's confidence in her own writing process becomes clear

when asked about her editing methods. The question of a writer

picturing his or her audience as they write and revise elicits a firm

"no" from Gaige, then silence, and finally a chuckle. As she then

elaborates on her answer, she also offers a glimpse of what benefit

she must bring to her writing students. She explains that a writer

"has to rely on her own self so much" that it is more natural and

more profitable for the writer to trust her own sensibilities than to

try to deduce who her reader will be and what background those

persons will bring to the page. Gaige passes along some advice

from an unknown source: "Write to your best self." This maxim

coincides with Gaige's self-assured, yet realistic philosophy. The

author is his or her own reader, not some conjured outside

audience (be they ideal or overtly critical) Once again, the

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professor in Gaige speaks as she elaborates on this thought, offering

valuable counsel on the often harrowing editing process. According

to Gaige, in trying to "picture a reader that needs a lot of help, you'll

probably write down [to them]" In other words, it really is

acceptable for the writer to have faith in herself, to trust in the truth

that comes out of a series of carefully placed words. Gaige also

recognizes the practical side of the trials of revision; with laughter

behind her words, she says that she tries her hardest not to edit her

own work as the version of herself "on four hours of sleep," but

instead the version that is physically rested and mentally refreshed.

Both Gaige's family and her education have exerted strong,

positive influence on her teaching and writing careers. Raised in a

family of educators, Gaige specifically credits her parents (who still

live in Reading, Pennsylvania, where Gaige grew up) with making

her the blend of mentor and scribe that she is today She

characterizes her father as an "idea person" and her mother as a

"listener-observer," qualities she finds perfectly suited to "the

delicacy of teaching creative writing" as well as the skills necessary

in the successful writer. Gaige also acknowledges the lasting value

higher education has brought to her writing pursuits. Clearly

grateful for each opportunity, Gaige describes her time at the Iowa

Writer's Workshop as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be

men to red by some of America's greatest writers." She also pays

tribute to the "rich, experimental atmosphere" of her undergraduate

alma mater, Brown University, and the encouragement toward

molding an "artistic vision" she found there. If 0 My Darling is only

the first product of that artistic vision for Amity Gaige, her readers

have reason to be thankful, as well. Reading through her first novel

creates a sensation similar to the one Clark Adair discovers near the

end of the novel: "Time favored unhappiness. It slowed you

through the awful parts and whisked you through the good ones."

Gaige's lyrical debut novel is the kind of book that qualifies as one

of those too-quickly-finished good parts of life.

9

4

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Amity Gaige

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