A couple of your new stories bring a deep sadness to pop culture and advertising.

That’s true, and a beautiful way to say it. When I was younger, I thought pop culture was stupid but had nothing to do with me. It’s just this crap that drops in our lives that all of us smart people don’t bother with. But, to be honest, my relationship with it is much more complicated. It’s just droning all the time. You can’t get away. And your thought stream is influenced by that whether you like it or not. There’s no way something could take so much of our attention and not affect the interior life. In Persuasion Nation is not so much about advertising but being inside something you can’t discern. Like a fish in water.

Are you a fan of pop culture or opposed to it?

I’m not against it at all. Me and my wife are Buddhists, and one of the things they teach is that it’s only your limited point of view that makes things holy or unholy. For me, pop culture is both a holy and unholy manifestation of Americanism. I love it. Walking around Times Square is a rush. It’s beautiful. And commercials are gorgeous, so I don’t really have anything against them, though in the final analysis I tend to veer a little bit suspicious. Maybe I’m a really judgmental person trying hard not to be.

# posted by Gerry Canavan @ 10:58 PM  |