Mark SaFranko interviewed by Steve Hussy
With the impending launch (1st June 2010) of Mark SaFranko’s third Max Zajack novel, God Bless America, a new issue of lit mag, Savage Kick and an updated Murder Slim Press (MSP) website, we asked head honcho of MSP, Steve Hussy to interview Mark SaFranko.
Steve Hussy: Tell us a little about the writing of God Bless America.
Mark SaFranko: God Bless America was actually written before both Hating Olivia and Lounge Lizard, so it’s actually the first of the Max Zajack novels. And it fits there sequentially as well since it’s a childhood novel. I began it in 1991. The original manuscript ran just a few pages short of a thousand pages. I worked on it on and off until just last year, mostly cutting it down to its present length. I felt I had to lay down a massive amount of experience, which accounted for its original length.
SH: Did you have any inspirations for the book?
MS: Well, there was my own life, of course, but at first I was unsure how I should go about it. What changed everything for me and gave me a direction was reading Celine’s Death On Credit, or Death On The Instalment Plan, as we call it here in America. I read it back in 1980 or thereabouts, and within a few pages, I realized, “Aha – that’s how I want to do it.” Childhood, to me, was a time of psychic and physical chaos. Sprawling, inchoate chaos. As a kid you can’t make sense of what’s happening to you - at least I couldn’t. I wanted to try and capture a sense of that. Celine does it brilliantly, by the way.
SH: Any other childhood novels you admire?
MS: Well, Henry Miller’s Tropic Of Capricorn was an influence. It’s also a big teeming novel about youth. I like Ham On Rye a great deal. I actually think it has the most literary merit of Bukowski’s novels, but people don’t talk about it as much. Another great childhood novel is Lord Of The Flies. I don’t know what’s thought about Golding nowadays, but that book holds up, though for different reasons. I know I’m forgetting some others, but those few are a good start.
SH: What aspects of Max Zajack's character are established in God Bless America? Was your childhood the birth of that stubborn fighting spirit?
MS: I don’t know that I see myself as a fighter so much as I do a survivor of sorts. If I’m a fighter, I’m a silent fighter, someone who endures. But maybe the book establishes Max as someone who collides with experience and tries to make sense of it, never with much success.
SH: Madness is another major theme in the book. Is it something you've been aware of yourself too? The ending of Lounge Lizard is a descent into psychosis... what got you out of that mindset?
MS: The analyst’s couch! There’s madness everywhere you look. None of us can escape it. The world is insane. It doesn’t take much to see that. All you have to do is look at the morning headlines.
SH: Once again, Max has to endure a series of different jobs in God Bless America, from golf caddie to shop assistant etc...inevitably with terrible outcomes. Do you think you've ever had a pleasant day job, and - if you had your pick of any job - which do you think you would have liked most?
MS: When you’re a kid you can do all kinds of things, anything, really, because you’re young and you have endurance and you’re easily duped. So you get used. You get all the shit jobs. But working all the time was normal to me. It was expected. And I have to say that it brought me into contact with lots of different people and gave me an enormous amount of experience with many different occupations in several different settings. My favourite job back then was working for Gino’s, which was an East Coast fast food equivalent of McDonalds. You got to eat whatever you wanted and everybody on the payroll was certifiable. Every single day was a riot. We smoked dope behind the dumpsters before the workday began. You came out stinking of grease and exhausted, but you had a blast. Nowadays my ideal job would be…well, right now I can’t think of one. Working with animals in some capacity would be good. Animals aren’t people, after all.
SH: You have a young family yourself. How are you finding it? Do you think the lessons you learnt as a child have informed your parenting now?
MS: Having a family probably keeps you sane. It keeps you in touch with reality. If I mention “Hey, I’m famous in France” or some other such inanity, my kid says “Fine, now can you fix my breakfast?” I think that to at least some extent we become our parents when have children, which is probably a frightening thought for many, if not most people. So you have to be vigilant. And you have to learn to become a kid again yourself in some ways.
SH: What was it like to visit France? What did the promotion tour involve?
MS: Being in Paris is like being in Heaven, which is probably every visitor’s reaction. You walk the streets endlessly fascinated. Hypnotized, even. You can feel the ghosts of past centuries drifting all around you like snow. Every square inch of the place is a work of art. If I could afford it, I’d live there right now. Since 13e Note, my French publisher, was just getting out of the gate when I visited, all I did was a reading for the booksellers, and I attended the Book Expo, which is one of the major European events. The rest of the time I enjoyed myself. The publisher, Eric Vieljeux, is a sophisticated man and knew enough to let me loose on the town. It was a wonderful experience. Can’t wait to go back. I’m trying to figure out how right now.
SH: The reception in France to Hating Olivia and Lounge Lizard has been almost exclusively positive. Were you surprised by that response?
MS: I was somewhat, given how much difficulty I’ve had just getting my work into print over the years. And of course you don’t know how you’ll go over in another culture and much depends on the translator. Of course I wouldn’t let my work see the light of day if I didn’t think it had at least some value, but that’s no guarantee of a positive critical response. But I’d keep going even if everyone hated the stuff simply because I have to.
SH: How do you respond to the rare negative review?
MS: Well, I’ve certainly had my share of those over the years in the form of rejection letters. And incidentally, they were rejections of some of the work that’s being read now by a growing audience. So my perception is that the editors and publishers and agents are out to stop you, no question. Too many writers and not enough readers, for one thing. Unless they think you’re going to sell millions of copies, you’re shit out of luck, for another.
SH: You also talked to students at Marianapolis College. How did the reading go?
MS: I think okay, but I couldn’t see beyond the stage lights so I’m just guessing. Zsolt Alapi, who teaches there and organized the event, is a great guy who uses my work in his classes. He tells me I have a growing cult following in Montreal, for better or worse.
SH: You were recently signed to Harper Collins. How is it going, and how did the signing come about?
MS: I just finished the proofs of Hating Olivia. The publication date is November 16 2010. This is the first time I’ll become visible in a big way in the United States, so it will be interesting to see what the reaction will be. The Harper Perennial people are consummate professionals and they have tremendous resources. They’ll make sure that the book gets around. Tony O’Neill brought Hating Olivia into Harper when his novel Down And Out On Murder Mile was picked up. Apparently it sat around there for a while. Then they published a new novel by Dan Fante as well as his back catalogue. The Harper Perennial marketing director, Amy Baker, decided that I belonged out there too.
SH: You continue to release albums. What drives that? Is it your main passion?
MS: I’ve been a musician and composer all my life. I’ve continued to write songs over the years; it’s something I can’t seem to get out of my system. I’m a fan of all kinds of music, from Penderecki to Dylan. And so now that my bar musician days are over, I go on recording. The internet music stores have given me an outlet. My new album, just finished, is a CD of music that’s intended for the movies based on my literary work that never got done. It’s called Music For An Unmade Movie. If music isn’t my main passion, she’s a mistress I’ve never been able to throw over. But she’s beautiful, so I don’t want to.
SH: The Favor was recently optioned by Michael A Grimm, an Austrian filmmaker. How did the process go?
MS: Michael optioned the property and invited me to write a screenplay, which I did. He just got through translating it into German. Now he’ll undertake the process of finding a producer or producers. And of course that’s the tricky part, coming up with the money. The great majority of optioned properties never get into production. You know the old saying: “Many are optioned, few are made.” This is the third piece of mine that’s been optioned. Time will tell whether I get lucky this time around. My expectations are realistic though.
SH: I dug the screenplay to The Favor and, as a film lecturer, was a little baffled that it wasn't picked up as is. What are the problems of working in the movie industry? Would you ever write a screenplay again? And will you continue to act?
MS: Thanks. The biggest problem with the movie industry is that you need a shit-load of money to operate in it in any capacity. To insert a plug costs thirty grand – or more. And it gets worse from there. That said, I love film and would write more screenplays if the opportunity arises. My future as an actor is uncertain. Too much energy goes into hunting down parts that are even remotely interesting, at least for me. Anyway, I’d rather write.
SH: Let's finish on something positive... what would your perfect day entail?
MS: Since I only ghost-write a column a week, right now I’m rather close to my ideal. I still have to work a job to make ends meet, and that’s time I’d love to have back, but I can’t complain. It sure as hell beats breaking my ass full time and having no time to do anything else. What would make my day perfect though would be having enough time to paint. I love to paint, but lately it’s been tough. So I guess my answer is that I need 48 hours in a day - that would make it perfect.
Video: Something In The Air by Thunderclap Newman
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