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BIO
Jim
Harrison was born December 11, 1937 in Grayling, MI to Winfield
Sprague Harrison (County Agricultural Agent) and Norma Olivia (Wahlgren)
Harrison. He married Linda King on October 1960. They have two children,
Jamie Louise and Anna Severin.
He
received his BA from Michigan State University in 1960, his MA from
same in 1964.
Briefly
an Assistant Professor of English at the State University of New
York --- Stony Brook (1965-66). Contributed poems to several anthologies,
also published poems, stories, articles and reviews to several publications.
Has written screenplays for Warner Brothers and other film companies.
His work has been translated into 11 languages.
He
currently lives with his family on a farm in northern Michigan.
INTERVIEW
November
3, 2000
You may know Jim Harrison from his novella that Brad Pitt turned
into film legend in Legends of the Fall, or you may already be
familiar with his name in a purely literary sense. Either way, you
won't want to miss his latest work, THE BEAST GOD FORGOT TO INVENT.
Bookreporter.com's Writer Jonathan Shipley finds out why Harrison
prefers novellas over novels, the poetry and prose he enjoys reading,
details about his latest book and much more in this interview.
TBR: What spurred you to write THE BEAST GOD FORGOT TO INVENT?
JH: After a lifetime of world
travel I've been fascinated that those in the third world don't
have the same perception of reality that we do. To approach the
perceptual complication in our own culture, I gave my character
a closed head injury, a fascinating but often mortal condition.
The character Joe who roams the wilds is also a metaphor for our
incomprehension of the artist.
TBR: This is your fourth volume of novellas. What is it about
novellas that interests you?
JH: I write novellas because
I don't like loose sprawling prose. I prefer density. I became interested
in the novella form very early reading Katherine Ann Porter and
Isak Dineson. In other words, if I can tell a story in 100 pages
as I hope I did in LEGENDS OF THE FALL, that is my choice. Obviously
in DALVA and THE ROAD HOME this wasn't possible.
TBR: Is the title story of your new collection somewhat autobiographical?
If not, what inspired it?
JH: THE BEAST GOD FORGOT TO
INVENT isn't really autobiographical except that I've been roaming
the wilderness since I was a boy which gave me access to that sort
of strange experience which is not stable in the cultural sense.
TBR: In regard to the title story, do you think our primal history
is a better way of living than our technology-driven present?
JH: It's certainly not that
our primal history is better than we live now, but it's an option.
I should add that I very much enjoy certain cities especially Paris,
New York and Chicago.
TBR: In "Westward Ho," your character Brown Dog comes back. What
makes you return to him?
JH: I wrote "Westward Ho" because
I can't let go of the character Brown Dog. I grew up with characters
similar to him and know a number of them now in Michigan's Upper
Peninsula. The attitudes of Brown Dog are my survival mechanism
in a world in which I most often feel out of place.
TBR: In "Westward Ho," you write of the Hollywood of prostitutes,
thieves, and crazies. Do you enjoy movies?
JH: In "Westward Ho" I send
Brown Dog to Hollywood to be back his bearskin. Of
course Hollywood is full of prostitutes, thieves, and crazies. It
also has a large number of intelligent and sensitive people. Do
you know that more people read books in Los Angeles than New York?
I enjoy about 1 out of 100 movies, it's about the same proportion to
books published that I care to read.
TBR: What do you think of the movies that were made from your
stories, for
example LEGENDS OF THE FALL? Did you get to give any feedback during
the making of that film?
JH: In the case of LEGENDS OF
THE FALL, I had many opportunities to offer feedback through the
director, Ed Zwick and the main screenwriter, Bill Witliff.
TBR: With "Westward Ho" you write about Native Americans. You've
also written quite a bit from a woman's perspective and you do both
very well. How successful to you think authors are when they write
outside their own ethnicity or sex?
JH: Writers can write outside
their ethnicity or sex depending how open and vulnerable they wish
to be. I've known a great number of Native Americans though I carefully
avoid writing about the religious customs. I mostly have written
about mixed breeds who have their own peculiar problems. Writing
as a woman presents enormous problems but I have attempted it several
times and haven't had many complaints.
TBR: Your story "I Forgot to Go to Spain," is wonderful. What
is it about the country that interests you?
JH: "I Forgot to Go to Spain"
is a fable about the truly awful aspects of success in our culture.
Success and money can really be quite blinding. My character tries
to escape to Spain because certain aspects of Spanish culture appeal
to him. It was a way for him to get out of his rut.
TBR: What is it about Michigan that continues to make you want
to write about it?
JH: I'm actually forced to write
about Michigan because as a native of that state it's the place
I know best. Michigan is two radically different places --- the
North and the South which makes for good drama and contrast.
TBR: What writers have influenced your life and writing the most?
Would you say Ernest Hemingway has had an influence on your writing?
JH: I've never felt influenced
by Ernest Hemingway though I suppose there is something inevitable
there. I much preferred Faulkner, Doestevsky and Joyce as novelists.
TBR: What are you reading now?
JH: I am mostly reading poetry
now especially Mark Nickels' "Cicada." I've also
been enjoying Merrill Gilfillan, Colum McCann, Jimmy Santiago Baca
and Sherman Alexie.
TBR: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
JH: The only advice I can give
to aspiring writers is don't do it unless you're willing to give
your whole life to it. Red wine and garlic also helps.
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