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When Wolitzer began work onThe Female Persuasionthree years ago, she didnt intend to capture the Zeitgeist.
I hope theres not just one moment for this book, she said.
Because I didnt write it that way, of course.
I am a novelist through and through, she said.
Tell me where youll be living, and Ill contact you then.
Ive never had that before.
The truth is, I want to write novels about what Im absorbed in at the time.
Its gratifying to be taken seriously, always.
And in terms of have I arrived or not, different people have different views of that.
It cant be a polemic.
Im always saying,What is it like?
Thats one of the mantras of writing novels for me.
And then, in the game of musical chairs, the book is coming out now.
Did you have a question in mind when you began writing this book?I had a couple.
It may not be your version of a question.
Its more like a problem, which is, what about female power?
What about peoples ambivalence towards it?
What about the excitement around it?
And also, how do people make meaning of the world?
Its different for different people, of course.
It wasnt like these were questions I chose randomly from a shelf they were stirring in me.
And thats what I want to start writing: be stirred by thoughts.
Im not sure I know what I think the answers are.
I cant be a spokesperson for ideas.
I just want to explore them.
I think that I track the changes.
In the books Ive written, it certainly always plays a role.
In the book, you could say there are various kinds of feminism represented.
Do you personally feel more sympathetic to any of one of those perspectives?Its like a variety pack.
I saw her struggle because she was someone who was not encouraged by her parents, as I was.
I filed it away.
Nothing comes out of nowhere.
What was so surprising was the way that the conversation has sharpened and coalesced so quickly.
I dont want this book to be just about this moment.
I always want to know whats going on.
But for me, its about, where do you want to put your attention?
And right now, Im listening and watching, like everyone else.
I have no idea where things will go.
Even the questions around it are changing.
Its like, if you ask me next week, maybe something new will have happened.
Were still at some early, nascent way of how people are talking about all of it.
How do you talk about things?
Whats the, not just the most effective, but the most accurate?
I do make a run at do that in my fiction.
Do you feel any ambivalence about #MeToo as a movement?I dont think that way.
Im really interested in looking at it.
I take the novelist perspective and say, what is going on here?
And as far as ambivalence goes, people need to say whats important.
People need to speak about imagining the kind of society they want to live in.
The movement has brought up so many gray areas, none more so than the Aziz Ansari episode.
I cant really speak to that beyond that.
It already feels like ten years ago, doesnt it?
I feel like youre talking about an antique, its old already.
Every day theres something new and something else thats crazy.
You make a little grid for yourself so you could only see a little part of the fly.
[Wolitzer demonstrates this move, with a laugh, holding her crossed fingers up to her eye.]
I do for the most part read them.
The reviewer was correct.
Theres the implication that domestic fiction is used to say the book is small.
Your book is so much about mentorship.
I was really shocked by this, which is weird now.
She said to our class: only write whats important.
And what she meant is, only write whats importantto you.
Have you started working on your next book?Im going off on this book tour.
I have this desire to work on my new novel in hotel rooms.
I have this fantasy.
It involves Caesar salads and a new novel.
When youre writing, its so absorbing.
I love to work.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
