{"id":13651,"date":"2020-07-09T11:33:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T15:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=13651"},"modified":"2020-07-09T11:33:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T15:33:13","slug":"episode-382-john-vercher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-382-john-vercher","title":{"rendered":"Episode 382 – John Vercher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 382:
\nJohn Vercher<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_382_-_John_Vercher.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“Growing up mixed-race, there’s a lot of soul-searching and identity-searching, and when you’re asked often enough ‘What are you?’, you start to ask that question of yourself.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>With Three Fifths<\/a> (Agora), debut author John Vercher<\/a> explores race and representation in a taut crime novel. We get into Black identity and the notion of ‘passing’ in America, the origins of Three Fifths<\/em> and its evolution over a two-decade span, and how John’s literary idols led him to the spare prose that carries the book’s tension. We also get into his roundabout writing career, how an MFA program doesn’t necessarily prepare one for the job-aspects of writing, the decision to place Three Fifths<\/em> in 1995 (think Rodney King, OJ trial, and no cell phones or internet), John’s martial arts background<\/a> and how it informs his writing, how he integrated his characters’ love of superhero comics into their psychologies, the need to pay it forward, and more. Give it a listen!<\/a> And go read Three Fifths<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“The shorter books of Ernest Gaines and James Baldwin pack far more emotional heft than books twice their length. At the end of 200 pages, you feel like you’ve just read an epic novel.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n