Dennis Lehane
BIO
Dennis Lehane is the author of seven novels. These include the New York Times bestsellers Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; and Shutter Island, as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He and his wife, Angie, divide their time between Boston and the Gulf Coast of Florida.
PAST INTERVIEW
March 2001
After five installments of the Kenzie/Gennaro series, Dennis Lehane decided
to retire the duo and strike out in a different direction. The result was
MYSTIC RIVER. Heralded as his finest work to date, MYSTIC RIVER establishes
Lehane as an undisputed master in the noir. Join Senior Writer Joe Hartlaub,
our resident Lehane fanatic and aficionado, as he discovers the truth behind
the Kenzie/Gennaro shocker, Lehane's literary influences, and Boston beyond
Ally McBeal.
BRC: Your books blur the line between a number of different genres. Certainly
they have elements of mystery, yet they are also psychological studies. At
the same time they contain elements of horror, elements which are as
chilling, if not more chilling, than anything else I've ever read. It's
somewhat difficult to pin down your influences just by reading. While you've
often been compared to Robert Parker, I fail to see any stylistic similarity,
given the darkness of your subject matter. What authors, if any, have been a
major influence on you?
DL: There've been so, so many. Parker certainly taught me a lot about humor
and dialogue, as did Elmore Leonard. The biggest influences, however, were
three great urban novelists: Richard Price, Pete Dexter, and William Kennedy.
I see some Graham Greene trickling in from time to time, too.
BRC: Your first five books concerned Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, and
were narrated in Patrick's first-person voice. It was somewhat of a surprise,
accordingly, to crack open MYSTIC RIVER, your latest novel, and find that it
concerned itself with an entirely different cast. What was the impetus toward
writing a novel that did not involve Kenzie and Gennaro?
DL: Frankly, they needed a break. In five novels, I'd put them through hell.
I didn't think they, or anyone really, could handle another emotionally,
physically, and psychologically damaging case within the period of another
year. So I gave them a breather. The characters from MYSTIC RIVER had been
knocking on the door for a while, and the knocking started getting pretty
loud while I was writing PRAYERS FOR RAIN, so I gave into it.
BRC: Notwithstanding the shift in character direction in MYSTIC RIVER, there
are three threads that seem to run through all of your novels, including your
latest: 1)the omnipresent danger of child predators; 2) the complicated
relationships between fathers and sons; and 3) the proposition that the
consequences of sins and misdeeds never end with the actor but resonate
outward through space and time to affect others who are seemingly uninvolved
in the occurrence of the initial deed. What influences in your life have
directed you to the discussion of these themes? And can we expect to see
further discussion of them in your future novels?
DL: Oh, God, I don't know. Biographical influences are often so hard to put a
finger on. And, to a large extent, I don't want to understand too much about
what fuels my writing. I try to hold onto a measure of respect for my
creative demons, if you will. To over-analyze them could render them
impotent. What little I do understand about my obsessions is that I'm
attracted to classical tragedy as a form. I can do comedy and I deeply admire
satire, but my strength, as far as I can tell, lies in tragedy. And one of
the standard elements of tragedy is what you called the "consequences of
sin." As for future novels, I'd like to expand a bit thematically. I'm not
sure that's possible --- it's not uncommon for writers to work and rework
their central obsessions throughout their careers, sometimes unwittingly ---
but I'll give it a shot.
BRC: I noticed a chilling similarity between MYSTIC RIVER and your second
novel, DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND. In both novels child predators appear in a
motor vehicle; their appearance, and the reaction of their intended victims
(which was quite different in each book) affected the lives of the
individuals for years to come in ways which they could never have guessed. It
was, I thought, an effective metaphor. Was this a deliberate inclusion in
MYSTIC RIVER, or something which you were initially unaware of?
DL: Definitely not deliberate. This is the first I've realized it, but you're
right. And I'll take the effective metaphor compliment and maybe act like I
knew what I was doing from here on out.
BRC: I don't want to give away the ending of MYSTIC RIVER other than to say
that it left at least one issue unresolved. Do you plan in a future novel to
return to the Devines, Marcuses, and Boyles for closure, or for any other
reason?
DL: I have no intention to do so in the immediate future, though we may see
some of those characters in an East Buckingham novel in more minor roles. It
all depends on my mood next year or the year after; I never plan very far
ahead.
BRC: Annabeth Marcus in MYSTIC RIVER was in many ways the most fascinating
character in the book for me. The final pages of the novel hinted that there
are layers to her personality which make her far more complicated than she
would appear to be at first blush. She is also a conscious and subconscious
catalyst for her husband's actions. Do you plan to involve her or feature her
in any future novels?
DL: Thank you. It's very gratifying for someone to respond to Annabeth
because I felt during the writing of the novel that she was one of the more
interesting characters, and I decided early on to let her just lay in front
of the reader without any editorializing as to how you should feel about her
or, really, what she was up to. I like that a few readers have come away from
the book with a confused sense of how they feel about her; she's either a
younger Ma Joad or she's Lady Macbeth, and it's up to you to decide. As for
whether she'll come back, again, I don't know.
BRC: You grew up in Boston and still reside there. One of the most
frightening aspects of your books is the realism of your characters who read
like they just stepped out of a Boston that Ally McBeal never walked down. As
frightening as vampires in New Orleans or monster clowns under Maine bridges
may seem, the reader knows that they are creatures of fiction. The boogiemen
in your books, however, whether they come by van for your children or kill
your spouse in a convenience store, are real. How real are they? Did you
create your characters from people with whom you were acquainted with while
growing up?
DL: I don't believe in "autobiographical fiction," in basing characters on
people you know. It stunts creativity and hurts real people who may come
across themselves in your book. The job of the fiction writer is to create a
believable cloth of lies and myth and could be --- accent on the "could" ---
a mirror of a life we all know. I do a lot of sitting in rooms imagining my
characters. Now, it beats working a real job, don't get me wrong, but it is
work. It's what I do for a living, and I take it very seriously. It's hard to
explain to people that writing is imagining, creating people in your mind
from nothing but a void. When you start with them, they're essentially ova,
and you build from there. What I hope to capture when I'm doing this is the
flavor of the world I grew up in, but the particulars are mine, and mine
alone.
BRC: Your first book, A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR, came roaring almost out of
nowhere in 1994 and you haven't stopped since. Could you tell us a little
about the mind behind the books? What is your academic and professional
background?
DL: BAS in Creative Writing from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. MFA
from Florida International University in Miami. The mind behind the books is
probably in need of help, but then that would disrupt a rather lucrative
career, and we can't have that, can we?
BRC: What are you working on now?
DL: A book called MISSING DELORES, which is set in East Buckingham. That's
all I can say about it; I'm superstitious when it comes to talking about my
books before they're done.
BRC: Do you have any ideas or plans for a new character to appear on a
recurring basis in your novels? And will we see Kenzie and Gennaro again?
DL: Major characters from MYSTIC RIVER may show up in minor roles in MISSING
DELORES. We'll see. As for Kenzie and Gennaro, they'll be back.
BRC: You wrote the screenplay for the movie "Neighborhoods." I unfortunately
never go to the movies --- the theater is usually too dark to read in --- but
I was wondering how this project came about and whether you have any other
screenplays planned.
DL: I wrote, produced and directed NEIGHBORHOODS, but it failed to find a
distributor. Que sera, sera and all that. I've written an original called
NIGHTFALL which seems to have some alleged "heat" surrounding it right now
and will probably get made after the actor's strike. Same with the script of
PRAYERS FOR RAIN which I'm doing for Paramount.
BRC: What schedule do you follow while you are working on a novel?
DL: I walk my dogs in the morning and map out what I'm going to do that day
in my head. Then I go home and do it. Very boring process, really.
You can learn more about Dennis Lehane at dennislehanebooks.com
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