Zoetrope's Founder Speaks About Her First Novel

Book Help Web Exclusive Interview With Adrienne Brodeur

Sometimes a calling can not be avoided. So it was with writing and Adrienne Brodeur.

Coming from a family of writers, she set out to do something different. She spent years in public policy and government work before the clarion call of the literary world became too loud to ignore.

On a whim, she contacted Francis Ford Coppola, whom she'd heard liked short stories. Together, they founded a literary magazine, Zoetrope: The All-Story. It was a magazine that took the literary world by storm and hushed all of its doubters.

Since then she has struck out on her own as a novelist. The paperback version of her first novel, Man Camp, came out this past summer. It's a delightful novel that joyously and affectionately explores gender roles in our new metrosexual age. Martha and Lucy are frustrated with the men in their lives-whether the string of bad first dates or the longer-term relationship with a man set out to convince her of his unworthiness.

In an interview with Book Help Web, Brodeur tells us a little more about the creation of Man Camp and what she has next on her plate.

Book Help Web: Man Camp is filled with Martha's FirstDate experiences with her clients. They sometimes reminded me of Theresa Rebeck's play Bad Dates. What was your worst first date experience?

Adrienne Brodeur: As Tolstoy might say: Good dates are all alike, but every bad date is bad in its own way! In fact, I think mediocre dates are the absolute worst. You know the ones I'm talking about: you arrive at a bar full of hope and within minutes you realize that you're bored and that that's not likely to change. Suddenly, your glass of wine is very large and very full, and it seems quite possible that the date will never end.

But you're after a good story here (which is why bad dates are actually not so bad: they're usually hilarious) . I memorialized many of my worst dates in Man Camp (fictionalizing them, of course), my favorite of which was with this incredibly clueless but sweet guy, who didn't seem to grasp the concept that a date involved two people. We'd met a friend's party and he asked me out. I accepted. He chose a vegetarian restaurant he frequented.

Okay I guess, but it would have been nice if he'd asked what kind of food I liked. When I arrived, there were no chairs, only pillows on the floor. Again, okay I guess, though had I known I might not have worn a straight skirt. Then he told me he wanted to meditate for a few minutes before dinner. Huh? Now things were getting a little strange. Next thing I knew, he was Om-ing away. But wait, it gets worse. The restaurant served no alcohol! Now to me, a glass of wine is necessary for first date survival. The kicker? When the bill arrived he calculated down to the penny what I owed him. Argh! (For the record, I have no problem going Dutch, provided I have some input).

BHW: What was your husband's reaction to Man Camp? Or didn't you let him read it?

Brodeur: I met my Tim (my husband) before I wrote Man Camp. In fact, I was just outlining the proposal at the time and, for some unknown reason (a subliminal urge to sabotage?) I told him the whole concept over dinner on our second date. Luckily for me, Tim was amused and not threatened in the least. I think maybe I needed to find a man who had enough self-confidence not to worry about the fact that his girlfriend/fiancé/wife was writing a book called Man Camp.

Of course, we'll see how he fares with the screenplay I'm working on. It's a dark comedy about three women who are trying to dump their husbands (in antithesis of every narrative in which the real prize for the heroine - regardless of what the story purports to be about - is that she gets the man). The working title is Losing Dick. Knowing Tim, he'll handle it with his usual aplomb!

BHW: What has been the most amusing reader reaction you've had to Man Camp?

Brodeur: The first reaction almost every man has had to reading Man Camp is to assure me that he knows exactly how to change a tire. In fact, often he'll correct some minor detail in that section of the book ("Well, you should have mentioned that you don't want to lower the jack fully before ."). Once, I went into marketing/publicity meeting at Random House and one of the head honchos (who will remain nameless) showed me some cuts on his hand from the weekend's macho activities.

BHW: Perhaps one of the more impressive aspects of Man Camp is how you manage to pack a lot of themes into a very light-hearted and short novel. It could almost be called a feminist novel-if one looks at the book as a loving satire rather than a prescription for gender relationships. How do you think a review in Ms. Magazine would read?

Brodeur: Thanks for the compliment and for thinking it could almost be called a feminist novel. I agree. In fact, I was shocked when a reviewer suggested it was anti-feminist and thought I was calling for a return to 1950s ideals. (Did she read the whole book?). In the end, I think Man Camp is a loving satire. It's about what people think they want versus what they actually want. Let's face it, as long as men and women have co-existed, they've had complaints (I can imagine the cave kvetching: "All he wants to do is hunt mammoths"). But in fact, with few exceptions, love always involves compromise.

BHW: You visited a dairy camp in West Virginia to research Man Camp. What were some of your experiences there?

Brodeur: Visiting the Benbrook dairy farm was the absolute high point of writing Man Camp. Initially, I didn't know where to locate the camp itself and was considering Cape Cod and other rural places that were familiar to me ("write what you know" etc.), but when I got to Benbrook, everything just fell into place. The language of a farm worked effortlessly with the themes of the novel. During my weeks there I did everything I could - shot guns, fed calves, drove tractors, fixed farm equipment, repaired fences, milked and more. I even have a photo of myself, elbow deep in a cow artificially inseminating her!

BHW: Coming from the Midwest, it seems inconceivable that any adult-male or female-would not know how to work jumper cables or change a tire. It stood out, though, as one of those skills that perhaps aren't universal, but are tied to one's environment. Later, you demonstrate that the men have replaced those skills with other, equally essential, skills. Do you think that there are certain skills that everyone should know? Or do you think those are stereotypes that should be released?

Brodeur: You're exactly right: one tends to know what's essential for survival in a given environment. If you live in a large city, chances are you ride trains or take cabs, and therefore, knowledge of how to change a tire isn't critical. Likewise, on a deserted island, working knowledge of a Blackberry won't get you far. Though I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that everyone should know how to do certain things, I do think being competent is not only incredibly attractive but also important for self confidence (who wants to have to rely on others for fundamental things?). I, for one, am extremely glad I know the basics: how to cook, build fires and make rudimentary repairs to most things, mechanical and otherwise. Now, if I could only improve my computer knowledge.

BHW: How did you choose the names for your various characters? There were moments when I found myself wondering whether there was supposed to be something symbolic (or at least an amusing, conspiratorial wink) about such names as Eva, Martha, Lucy, Adam, and Cooper.

Brodeur: I'm afraid there wasn't any conscious effort at symbolism, though obviously I used the archetypal male name, Adam.

BHW: You have a great commitment to storytelling-one that was passionately demonstrated with your co-founding of the literary magazine Zoetrope. What was the most rewarding aspect of working on that magazine?

Brodeur: Launching Zoetrope was the toughest and most rewarding experience I've ever had professionally. I started the magazine out of my small studio apartment and had a staff of one: Moi! The learning curve was steep. I had to hire designers, enlist "guest artists," find a printer who had a web press, buy paper by the ton, meet with agents and editors to get the word out, develop circulation and distribution plans, become an ad sales exec and learn how to write direct mail pieces (as well as copy for renewal letters). I was the data entry person, event coordinator and party planner. I read, selected, commissioned and edited stories, negotiated contracts, and organized and ran a writers' conference at Francis's resort in Belize. Did I mention that I took out the trash?

With that said, it was all rewarding. There wasn't a widget in sight, only stories and writers and artists. We got to create something beautiful every three months and often changed someone's life in the process (many of our writers went on to get book deals -- occasionally big ones). I don't think it gets much more thrilling than that.

BHW: What was it like working with Francis Ford Coppola in a medium that was so different from what he normally did?

Brodeur: While Francis might be best known as a filmmaker, he truly is a "Renaissance Man." He writes, owns resorts, runs one of the finest wineries in CA, reads more than anyone I know, and makes incredible pizza, just to list a few of his talents. He was fabulous to work with -- dynamic, willing to take risks, collaborative and yet hands-off. I couldn't have asked for a better partner.

BHW: Your next novel, Motherload, sounds like it is much different in tone than Man Camp. Certainly, it tackles a far more serious topic. How different is the writing experience and can you tell us anything about the upcoming book?

Brodeur: Motherload is such an entirely different novel than Man Camp, it's hard for me to fathom. They say that a writer's first book is usually something he/she has to write. Not so with Man Camp. It was a book I wanted to write and indeed, it was a lot of fun to write. Motherload is the book I have to write. Mostly a mother/daughter story, Motherload explores the devastating consequences that one selfish act has on an entire family.

BHW: You were a judge for the National Book Award. Other than the winning novel, what book most caught your fancy and spoke to you on a personal level to the greatest degree? Why?

Brodeur: The truth is I would never want to read that way again. Over 300 books landed on my doorstep, all of which needed to be read within three months. The math is not pretty: it was a virtually impossible task to do (luckily, the stakes are so high for that award that many books can be ruled out after fifty pages or so.) I realize that I haven't exactly answered your question but I judged the award about five summers ago and I'm reluctant to go on record with which book I thought should have been the runner up. There were many wonderful works of fiction that year.

BHW: Both of your parents are writers. Were they pleased to see you become a literary magazine editor and publish a novel or did they try to warn you away from a writing life?

Brodeur: If my dad pounded a single message into my head growing up it was to find a profession I loved. "Nothing is worse than being bored," he used to tell me over and over and over again. I think it was that advice that gave me the courage to leave my career in public policy and move to NYC to try to break into publishing. I have no regrets.

--B. Redman