Episode 255 with Chris Knapp, Author of States of Emergency and Keen and Darkly Humorous Chronicler of Contemporary Chaos

Notes and Links to Chris Knapp’s Work

   For Episode 255, Pete welcomes Chris Knapp, and the two discuss, among other topics, a fascination with Elena Ferrante, James Joyce, and other dynamic writers, the interplay between journalism and fiction writing, seeds for his debut novel, the significance of its title, the drawbacks and benefits of writing about such recent times, and salient themes and issues in his novel like colonialism, marital alienation and connection, ennui, and the creep of dystopian mores.

   Christopher Knapp’s work has appeared in print in the Paris Review and the New England Review, and online at Granta and n+1, among others. He’s been a work-study scholar at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Virginia. His novel, States of Emergency, was published on September 3 by Unnamed Press. He lives in Paris with my wife, and teaches in the journalism program at the Sorbonne.

Buy States of Emergency

Chris Knapp's Website

At about 2:50, Chris talks about what it’s been like in the run-up to publication 

At about 4:00, Chris describes his early literary life and battles with spoilers

At about 7:10, Pete and Chris discuss and cite the greatness of Faulkner and Joyce’s work

At about 9:30, Pete highlights a wonderfully Joycean sentence (one of many) from Chris’ novel

At about 10:25, Chris shouts out inspiring and thrilling writers, including Rachel Cusk, Don DeLillo, and Sebald, and Elena Ferrante

At about 14:10, The two discuss Paris and Naples and prices and experiences

At about 16:30, Chris responds to Pete’s questions about the interplay between his journalistic background and his fiction writing

At about 19:45, Pete and Chris reflect on the interesting ways in which the book’s narrator functions in the book and connects to 

At about 21:15, Chris speaks about seeds for his novel 

At about 22:20, The two discuss Chris deciding to start the book with a heat wave and political and cultural 

At about 24;45, Chris talks about the fertility procedures that run throughout much of the book and the way waiting relates

At about 27:00, Chris delineates between hope and optimism and how these two qualities characterize the narrator and his wife Ella

At about 29:20, The two discuss ideas of sympathy and empathy and comfort and shared pain

At about 31:50, Chris responds to Pete’s questions about the narrator’s writing and charting his and Ella’s experiences 

At about 32:45, Chris reflects on the narrator’s writing and the way that Ella sees him and his writing; he references Raven Leilani and writing on grief

At about 34:45, The two discuss the ways in which French colonialism and racism is seen (or not) in the book and in the world

At about 36:40, Pete highlights the dark humor of the book, and Chris expands on some of the humor and how it flows for him

At about 39:35, The two discuss the “carnality” of a climatic scene in Ella and the narrator’s relationship 

At about 42:20, Chris charts the importance of a getaway for Ella in Skopje

At about 44:20, Pete cites a period of separation between the two main characters and asks Chris about the significance of the book’s title

At about 49:00, Chris responds to Pete’s questions about the drawbacks and benefits and vagaries of perspective in the novel

At about 55:25, Chris reflects on narrative and its connections to history and to the novel

At about 57:00, Pete compliments two anecdotes/scenes from the book, compares Ella’s story of the French and Algerians to Wolff’s “In the Garden of the Nor