A Conversation with Will Allison
Author of : LONG DRIVE HOME : A Novel
Free Press : May 17 , 2011
1. Your first novel , What You Have Left , has three viewpoint characters and moves back and forth in time. Long Drive Home has one viewpoint characters and proceeds, for the most part, choronologically . Did you make the decision at the outset to structure this novel differently ?
I did. I wanted to write a book with a strong sense of tension and narrative momentum – more of page turner – but one that’s still character-based , where plot is a function of character and not vice versa.
2. When you were executive editor of Story magazine, thousands of submissions must have crossed your desk. How did your editorial work influence your writing ?
Reading through the submissions – we averaged about 50 a day – I was constantly reminded of the importance of 1) giving the reader a reason to care , 2) keeping the story moving . I write with an acute awarness that readers have a lot of other things they could be doing besides reading my book.
3. Where did the idea for the novel come from ?
I liv ein New Jersey , in a quiet neighborhood much like the one described in the book – lots of kids , joggres , people walking their dogs . One morning a few years ago, I went out to get the newspaper . A car came flying down the street , going probably twice the speed limit. I remember picking up the paper thinking I’d like to chuck it at the giy’s windshield , give him a scare . Then I thought , ” You’re an idiot , Will . You could kill someone . ” Then I thought, ” What if no one saw ? ” That was the seed of the story .
4. Is the book autobiographical ?
No. The circumstances of Glen’s life are similar to my own – I work at home ; my wife works in the city ; we have a young daughter ; we moved here from the midwest ; etc. – but the characters and plots are wholly intended .
5. Has your daughter read the book ?
No . She’s only nine . Some of the lnguage isn’t appropriate . Also I would hate for her to conflate me with Glen . She knows what the book is about , though . On the way to and from school , when I was writing it, she’d ask what part of the story I was working on. She gave me a lot of input . She still thinks Sara’s name should have been spelled ” Sarah ” .
6. Is the traffic in New Jersey really as bad as Glen says ?
It seemed pretty bad to me , coming from the Midwest . I did some reasearch when I started the book . New Jersey is the nation’s most congested state and has the highest pedestrian fatality rate. A 2006 study from that northern New Jersey has four of the ten most dangerous American cities to drive in – all within fifteen miles of where the story takes place . And a 2008 study ranked New Jersey drivers dead last in their knowledge of basic safety and traffic laws .
7 . Was the accident investigaion based on a real case ?
No, but I did get a lot of help from Detective Arnold Anderson , who recently retired from the Essex County Prosecutors Fatal Accident Unit . Andy read an early draft of the book and very patiently answered my questions . I remember being nervous when I first got in touch with him and said I was writing a book about a guy who tries to cover up his involvement in an accident. I thought Andy might think that’s what I was doing. He told me later that , yes , he did check up on me after that first phone call , to make sure I was really a writer .
8 . Was there any kind of moral you were aimimg to impart in Long Drive Home ?
I was very interested in the moral implications of Glen’s actions , particularly how he justified – and was later affected by – doing things he himself believed to be morally wrong . But no , I intented no moral lesson for the reader , only moral questions .
9. How much compassion do you expect the reader to show Glen ?
Obviously , Glen makes some terrible mistakes . But I do hope readers will put themselves in his shoes . That’s why I chose to tell the story from his viewpoint . If the story had been told from Rizzo’s or Tawana’s viewpoint , Glen might have come off as a clear – cut villian . That to me have been less interesting .
10. What’s next for you ?
Another novel , that may or may not revisit the characters in Long Drive Home.
The Blurb :
In his riveting new novel, Will Allison, critically acclaimed author of What You Have Left, crafts an emotional and psychological drama that explores the moral ambiguities of personal responsibility as it chronicles a father’s attempt to explain himself to his daughter—even though he knows that in doing so, he risks losing her.
Life can change in an instant because of one small mistake. For Glen Bauer, all it takes is a quick jerk of the steering wheel, intended to scare a reckless driver. But the reckless driver is killed, and just like that, Glen’s placid suburban existence begins to unravel.
Written in part as a confessional letter from Glen to his daughter, Sara, Long Drive Home evokes the sharp-eyed observation of Tom Perrotta and the pathos of Dan Chaon in its trenchant portrait of contemporary American life.
When Glen realizes no one else saw the accident, he impulsively lies about what happened—to the police, to his wife, even to Sara, who was in the backseat at the time of the crash. But a tenacious detective thinks Sara might have seen more than she knows, or more than her parents will let her tell. And when Glen tries to prevent the detective from questioning Sara, he finds himself in a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game that could end in a lawsuit or prison. What he doesn’t see coming is the reaction of his wife, Liz—a panicked plan that threatens to tear their family apart in the name of saving it.
But what if the accident wasn’t really Glen’s fault? What if someone else were to blame for the turn his life has taken? It’s a question Glen can’t let go of. And as he struggles to understand the extent of his own guilt, he finds himself on yet another collision course, different in kind but with the potential to be equally devastating. Long Drive Home is a stunning cautionary tale of unintended consequences that confirms Will Allison’s growing reputation as a rising literary talent.
My Review :
This is an incredibly realistic thriller/suspense story that could literally happen to just about anyone. Allison masterfully crafts a fast paced plot that kept my attention from start to finish made all the more possible by the novel’s just over 200 page length. The page count is deceptively short for Allison gets a lot accomplished, and reader’s are taken on a tense, emotional, psychological ride through the turns of fate experienced by one Glen Bauer. I highly recommend Long Drive Home to all who enjoy suspense novels and think this would make an intriguing choice for a book discussion group.
Will Allison’s debut novel, What You Have Left, was selected for Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers, Borders Original Voices, and Book Sense Picks, and was named one of 2007′s notable books by the San Francisco Chronicle. His short stories have appeared in magazines such as Zoetrope: All-Story, Glimmer Train, and One Story and have received special mention in the Pushcart Prize and Best American Short Stories anthologies. He is the former executive editor of Story. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, he now lives with his wife and daughter in New Jersey.
To learn more about author Will Allison through his website.
Thanks to Free Press, I received a complimentary copy of Long Drive Home by Will Allison for review.
