Description

McCaffery asks about Danielewski’s assertion in the first interview that he “storyboarded” House of Leaves. McCaffery asks about the metaphor of architecture, and the book Poetics of Space. They talk about The Whalestoe Letters “by” characters in House of Leaves. Danielewski also discusses powerful women. The letters, Danielewski says, lead to a “re-evaluation” of the story. Danielewski refuses to name the narrator of the book. McCaffery discusses whether characters in the film “La Strada” and House of Leaves are the same. Danielewski answers with questions and discussion of parallels between the stories. He discusses his family and the Holocaust. Danielewski discusses the use of imagination. McCaffery and Gregory discuss books versus movies. McCaffery asks about the footnotes, and Danielewski discusses his “challenge” to literary criticism. Gregory asks about a character and the “atmosphere” of the book. McCaffery asks about finding the language to express sex and horror. McCaffery comments on the art in the book, and he and Gregory discuss characters. Danielewski retells his story from the earlier interview on how he came to write “Redwood,” and also of being with his father in Spain. He then takes on the “Pelican Letters” in his book, which were poems written for people who had given Danielewski something. They discuss the play “House of Blue Leaves.” and other titles. McCaffery asks about an “audacious” passage in the book (page 205, including the footnote). They talk about how this interview will go into a book of interviews, and Danielewski makes a point about examining how things can be rearranged, like the word “snaps” turning into “spans.”