The Sun King had a fistula and had it operated on, at a time when operations were more traumatic and painful then they are today. KH: I read Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie when I was 11 or 12. RB: So what took you so long to write about it? RB: You have talked about your longtime interest in Russia as. RB: Prior to the new book, Enchantments, had you ever written about Russia? KH: (laughs) I hope I have at least 20 years left.
RB: Would you characterize yourself as being in mid-career? RB: And Oprah herself represented a big shift in the way books were marketed. I was called and asked if I would go on the show after Oprah discovered what an explosive topic it was. First of all everybody said there is no such thing, and if there were going to be someone to be the face of it, it would be Kathryn Harrison. KH: But not until a couple of years ago when Mackenzie Phillips announced that she was the face of consensual incest. Suddenly, I had written a book that a lot of people were talking about-op-ed columns and so on. It was a little bit overwhelming, but ultimately there were some good aspects to it, in that by then people were already talking how nobody read anymore. RB: Why should you? Is that part of your job, to know how people will react? I hadn’t anticipated at all there being a controversy. KH: (pause) Some of it was difficult-it bothered my husband, who is a much more private person than I am. RB: You received some criticism for your memoir, yes? RB: You have never been disenchanted with the whole project of writing? RB: It’s always better to blame someone who is not present. And they feel things would be better with some other publisher. I am usually not-writers often blame publishers for things that are outside of everyone’s control. KH: I’ve had the same agent for 20 years. RB: Setting aside the business, what’s the writing process for you? You sit down, write something, your agent. KH: Oh of course, the internet has revolutionized the whole thing, the way books are sold. How much has the world of publishing changed since your first book? KH: To send people ? I don’t really understand it. Random House has been great about that-I have three kids, so leaving for weeks at a time is never an option. KH: I seem to be going in and out of rather than doing a month or two. The Ides of March are mentioned in Shakespeare. Robert Birnbaum: Besides Julius Caesar, who cares about the Ides of March? What’s the big thing? If you have a liking for writing, literary fiction, or smart snappy conversation, this chat should satisfy those interests. In the conversation that follows Kathryn and I chat about the Ides of March, her addiction to writing, The Kiss, her fascination with Imperial Russia, her next novel, living in Brooklyn, reviewing books, sports metaphors, blurbing, social media, living with another writer (Colin Harrison), The Seal Wife, and George Saunders.
Harrison’s latest opus, Enchantments, recounts the last days of the Romanovs, Russia’s doomed monarchs, as seen through the eyes of “mad monk” Rasputin’s 18-year-old daughter, Masha.Īs novelist Scott Spencer writes, “Harrison takes us on a magic carpet ride to Russia one hundred years ago, and with perfect grace, impeccable style, and great narrative flair, she gives us a whole wounded world that is for the course of this utterly compelling novel as real as our own lives. She has also been a contributor to the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, Harper’s, Vogue, and other national magazines. Though she is the author of seven well regarded novels, Kathryn Harrison may be best known for her controversial memoir, The Kiss.