Ask the Author, Joe Stracci

Joe Stracci’s evocative story, The Fourth, perfectly captures a holiday weekend spent with family. In his interview, he talks about writing that is neither this nor that, authentic dialogue, and beverages of choice.

1. I can’t quite put my finger on “The Fourth”.   It can read as flash fiction or a prose poem with multiple parts.   Which of the two is it?

I’m not sure if it’s either. I tend to work on a smaller scale in all facets of my writing life.   Labeling a specific piece as “flash fiction” or “minute fiction” or a “prose poem” seems to indicate a choice, rather than just writing until I’ve completed a thought, which is always the goal.

If “The Fourth” is anything, it’s my attempt at a list story—something in the vein of Mary Robison’s “Why Did I Ever”, or Joe Brainard’s “I Remember.” I wanted to present tightly woven clusters of specific moments and images and ideas and dialogue and have the end result be a monument to something bigger. It’s never specifically stated in the story that “The Fourth” is taking place on the Fourth of July, only colloquially in the title, but by the end, you still know that’s what the piece is about, or at least I hope so.

2. “The Fourth” has some excellent dialogue.   What do you do to prepare the voices of your characters so they sound authentic?

I listen very closely at family gatherings. After, I say a prayer that my relatives never read my work. (And guys, if you read this—just kidding!)

3. When I was younger, my cousin chased me around with lit sparklers and it scared the shit out of me.   What, if any, type of festive explosive spooks you?

The block I lived on in the Bronx from ages 6-13 was a literal warzone on the 4^th.   It was the best day of the year.   You’d fall asleep to the sound of the manhole covers rattling every fifteen, twenty seconds.   Even better was the day after—the carpet of spent fireworks on the street. I’ve got a love for things that have fuses and blow up. I actually used a well-known International parcel-shipping company (unbeknownst to them) to mail myself fireworks while on a trip to Key West not too long ago. Good thing that worked out too—my fiance would have gotten in a lot of trouble when they checked the shipper information and got her home address.

4. What is your favorite thing to eat from the grill?

Sausage—it’s the Italian in me. Slighty-burnt hot dogs too. Basically anything, especially if it’s being eaten outside too.   There’s a line in an Amy Hempel story that goes something like, “Food eaten while sitting outside doesn’t count,” and that’s an ideology I’m willing to subscribe to.

5. What have you killed with fire?

Many, many relationships.   Kidding—although I have been accused on multiple occasions of having a healthy preoccupation with fire.   I did invent the “Flaming Burrito” which is when you take a Penny Pincher, rip out five or six pages, roll the Penny Pincher around the loose pages so they stick out, and then light both ends.   It’s a sight.

6. I think this line alone sums up America as a whole “Our country’s cake was chocolate. Inside—Mexican vanilla frosting and raspberry preserves.”   Would you agree with this statement?   If not, how would you sum up America in a sentence.

A doctor recently told me that 80% of the people in this country have either a first or second generation relative that lived in the Bronx or Brooklyn at some point.   I don’t know if that’s true, but I’d believe it. Growing up in the Bronx, diversity wasn’t diversity—it was part of the backdrop of everyday life—so in that sense, I’m somewhat disconnected.

I thought of the idea of “America” recently, actually.   I’m making my way through “Infinite Jest,” and there’s a part where two ETA students are discussing annular theory and the idea of (and I’m paraphrasing) fusion creating waste, which becomes the fuel for a different process, and that process’s waste becoming fuel for the original fusion.  I don’t think DFW intended it to be interpreted in that way, but to a reformed pessimist, it makes a great deal of sense.

7. What’s your preferred beverage on our day of independence?

Sam Adams Summer Ale from noon until dinner.   Bud Light until 8 or 9, and then gin and tonic for the rest of the night.   And a Bud Light chaser with any shots that take place along the way.   But who’s counting?