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Very mild spoilers for Nick DrnasosSabrinabelow.
Hes just made history and the eyes of the literary world are pointed his way.
Alas and alack for him.
Sabrinais a book thats difficult to describe, and probably best leftundescribed for those who havent read it yet.
The deliberate and controlled narrative is unnerving enough, but the visuals make the book downright terrifying.
But its not good enough for Drnaso.
Vulture caught up with him by phone on the evening after the long-list announcement.
They sent me an email giving me a little bit of a heads-up, which was much appreciated.
But I kind of just glossed over the email.
And I dont even mean that in such a negative way.
But this one, its just so large, its hard to know what its fully all about.
This just feels like this very abstract, far-away thing.
Were you someone who followed the Man Booker Prize in the past?
Was it something you were even that aware of?No, honestly not.
Have you received more praise forSabrinathan you did for your last book,Beverly?Yeah, considerably more.
I mean, it was sort of an incremental step up.
Im always a little taken aback by press, so I shouldnt sound so nonchalant about it.
Were you frustrated with the finished book?
What do you mean by that?Yeah, my feelings were pretty intense.
I mean, I canceled the book when I finished it.
For, like, a month.
And obviously, I came around, but it was a real struggle.
So it kinda complicates this process of getting recognition for something that was so difficult to make.
What made it so difficult to make?
What made that first draft so flawed?
That is, if you dont mind talking about that.No, no, not at all.
I just dont wanna depress you for the rest of the day.
Luckily, its gotten better.
We just got married.
It wasnt going away.
And then making the book certainly didnt help.
It would take too much time to go into, but very personal.
It was as much a personal decision as anything.
It just felt like too much.
So I kinda cracked, a little bit.
I guess Im having trouble understanding here.
It was a little bit of feeling like it didnt live up to …
I just had a lot of weird feelings.
I dont know if that clears it up at all.
You mean events outside your control were illogical?
Or your emotions were illogical?I think they were somewhat illogical.
Its an entirely fictional story, but at a certain point, it felt …
I just felt weirdly awful about it.
I couldnt face it and felt like I was weirdly being exploitative of other peoples pain and misery.
It just stirred up a lot of feelings.
That might sound kind of wacky, too, but its the best way I can explain it.
I dont know if even the finished version was that drastic.
About how much of the book was changed from the first version to the second?Hm.
Yknow, I probably only took out six or seven pages, and then added about 30 or so.
I realized there were a lot of missed opportunities of exploring her story in the book.
That was just weirdly neglected in my first draft.
Hopefully its some needed breathing room from the other narrative of the story.
So it does feel a little lopsided now.
Started drawing at beginning of 2015 and finished that first draft in the spring of 2017.
Didnt actually finally finish the book until November, December of 2017.
And what was the initial germ of the idea for the book?
I dont know why that was in my head.
All the other things in the plot just developed pretty organically after that.
What were these thoughts about abduction?
Was it that youd be abducted?
Someone you know?It was all concerns about my wife girlfriend at the time.
We were living separately.
Its not as if anything had happened.
I guess those things are just unreasonable fears.
But it all depends on how you look at it.
And then Paris and the rash of European terrorist attacks happened not long after that.
One thing you didnt mention there is Infowars and the right-wing online fever swamps that the book deals with.
But I honestly didnt think of my fictionalized version of that world as even being right-wing necessarily.
I just didnt think in those terms.
But I guess that was kinda lost on me at the time.
Have you been inundated by people getting in touch with you today?
Is that overwhelming or painful, maybe?Its been fine.
I feel a little uncomfortable being almost the representative of the comics medium, at least for today.
I just dont think about it that much.
Actually, strike all that.
I mean, you’re free to include it if you want, but its just …
I just dont know why … Yeah, I dont know what to say about it.
I guess I feel a little uncomfortable being on the list, to be honest.
For the reasons you already said?Yeah, kinda just the same stuff.
I just feel uncomfortable with the attention, is what it boils down to.
I could feel happy for them.
But I wasnt really expecting to be the person, for whatever reason, that they singled out.
That book, that they decided to put it on the list, its just …
I dont understand the process or how that happened.
Are you hoping that you dont win?Between you and me?
Im not gonna think about it, actually.
I dont think its deserved, Ill just say that.
Thats just like how I feel about it.
Clearly, its all wrapped up in how I feel about myself, so its tricky.
Im sort of easing into another long-term project.
I feel like I have to sort of protect and honor the routine of drawing.
It kind of slows it down or makes it more self-conscious.
Youre more aware of the choices youre making, which can be good and bad.
I guess I should just see it as a good thing.
But I think somethings lost.
You cant get as lost or maybe as risky.
I might feel a little more stifled.
But hopefully that doesnt happen.
The work youre doing now: Its in the early stages?
Will it be a while before we see another book from you?Yeah, I think unfortunately so.
Im 13 or 14 pages in.
Its gonna be more vignetted, like my first book [Beverly].
Itll just be pieced together more organically.
I guess I just realized afterSabrina,I cant make a book like that again.
Wouldnt want to be redundant, and just wouldnt want to go through that experience again.
So thats all I can hope for, that theres some growth or some new perspective.
Can you talk about why you do that?
Thats the thing that Im always kinda chasing, is having some greater control over what …
So all those things, thats what I get lost in.
Ive still never had any contact with her, but shes an amazing writer.
I can sort of take that in and appreciate that.
I dont know what that experience would be like.
I guess I shouldnt think too much about it.
That wasnt really on my mind when I was working on it.
And it hasnt happened yet, so well see.
Are you doing anything to celebrate tonight?No.
