Due to rights issues, the audio of this interview is not available online. Please contact San Diego State University, Special Collections and Archives if you wish to be granted access to the original audio. Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory meet with Ann Beattie in a restaurant in Los Angeles. The conversation begins with a description of the circumstances of the publication of McCaffery’s previous collection of interviews, Anything Can Happen. The interview itself begins with a discussion of Beattie’s background. It moves on to a discussion of Beattie’s first novel, Chilly Scenes of Winter and its approach to the sixties. The theme of relationships where people struggle to communicate in Beattie’s work is examined. Beattie expounds upon her particular writing habits. Beattie’s second novel, Falling Into Place, is discussed in detail. They discuss the use of popular music in Beattie’s works. Beattie explains her difficulties with coming up with titles for her writing. The interview ends with a discussion of the film Shoot the Moon. An edited version of this interview appears on pages 46-65 of Alive and Writing: Interviews with American Authors of the 1980s, ed. Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, University of Illinois Press, 1987.
