Chris Lynch Revealed
About Chris Lynch
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What is your birthdate?:7/2
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Previous occupations:Furniture mover/truck driver, house painter, proofreader.
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Favorite job:I could not have a more perfect job for me than writer.
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High school and/or college:Catholic Memorial H.S., Boston University, Suffolk University, Emerson College
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Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:Impossible. But my favorite "literary" musical composer is Randy Newman. His songs are lyrical, resonant short stories.
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Favorite movie:Midnight Cowboy
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Favorite television show:The Simpsons
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. Dead lucky to have the job I have.
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. Look for humor, find life.
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. Without question, perfect happiness includes a steady diet of humor. I am pathologically addicted to the hearty laugh, and spend much of my life in pursuit of it. Probably, the midst of a genuine, helpless fit of laughter is the point of emotional nirvana for me. On a broader level, I have found my periods of deepest satisfaction were when my kids were younger, I was totally consumed in taking care of them every day, and my writing life was going really well too. That feeling of having a strong sense of purpose every day, feeling that purpose is a mighty one (thank you, George Bernard Shaw), and feeling that you are doing a pretty good job of it all, that state is pretty hard to top. These days, my kids are at the point of not really needing me as much as I would like them to. That has, frankly been a tough adjustment for me. But adaptation is probably life's most useful skill.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. Anything deadly befalling my children.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. A modest little house on a modest, remote little beach (New England coast, thank you), where I could hear pounding surf most of the time..
- Q. Which living person do you most admire?
- A. Muhammad Ali
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. Certain swear words. Intellectually childish and lazy on my part.
- Q. What do you regret most?
- A. I wish I approached my adolescence more like Ferris Bueller did.
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. A genuine grasp of music, almost any instrument would do.
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. I tend to let my appetites make decisions for me.
- Q. What’s your best quality?
- A. I adapt, eventually, to most realities.
- Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
- A. A dolphin. Is there any creature on earth that seems to be enjoying itself more than the dolphin?
- Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
- A. I'm a goof, a high percentage of the time.
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. There is no definitive here, but I do love Hellboy's attitude.
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. The artist Damien Hirst, who qualifies by managing to be both artistically nonexistent and vile at the same time.
- Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
- A. Lots, but I'll pick one. Poor manners behind the wheel. Why does driving give people license to be flaming butts?
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Tough one. An evening of theatre and a restaurant is a pretty fine occupation.
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. I'd love to run a publication like The Onion.
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Sense of humor. Strong work ethic. Personal responsibility.
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. Fettucini Alfredo, laced with spinach and smoked salmon, and absolutely bombarded with garlic.
- Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
- A. Monstrously unfair question. Answer would change daily. Right now: Jessica by the Allman Brothers; One Week by Barenaked Ladies; No Surrender by Bruce Springsteen; Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez; Promised Land by Chuck Berry
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. Fitzgerald, Vonnegut, Joan Didion, Richard Ford, Pete Dexter, Arthur Miller, Tennesee Williams, Samuel Beckett. As of now.
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. Play it as it lays, Joan Didion. Stay here with me, Robert Olmstead. The Sportswriter, by Richard Ford, Hole in my life, by Jack Gantos. The Moviegoer, by Walker Percy.
- Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
- A. I am too slow for rereading. But I am going back to the Olmstead right now, so that must be special.
- Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
- A. Be bold, be different, excite, amuse and scare yourself.
- Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
- A. Nevermind, I thought you were Chris Crutcher.
