Matthew Specktor on hybrid memoir, Hollywood failure & that time Marlon Brando left a voicemail

07/31/24 • 38 min

In this episode, I talk with author and novelist about his recent hybrid memoir and cultural exploration, Always Crashing in the Same Car. We discuss his fascination with figures who faced creative crises in Hollywood, from F. Scott Fitzgerald, filmmaker Hal Ashby or musician Warren Zevon to more overlooked but similarly brilliant figures like Carole Eastman, the screenwriter of the 1970s classic Five Easy Pieces.

We also explore the realities of growing up in LA, including being “celebrity-adjacent.” That’s perhaps best illustrated by the time Marlon Brando left an incredible monologue in the form of a voicemail. We do a deep dive into the attraction of hybrid memoir for fiction writer, Matthew’s approach to research, and whether it’s possible any longer to be a middle-class creative in Hollywood.

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“All of those kind of impulses fused in me, and eventually, and I sort of realized, like, oh, this is what I want to write. I want to write a book that's a memoir that isn't about me, or a memoir that's only kind of, you know, partly about me.”

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Key Takeaways

Always Crashing In the Same Car pays homage to figures who've faced both genius and marginalization in Hollywood, including Thomas McGuane, Renata Adler, Carole Eastman, Eleanor Perry, Hal Ashby, Michael Cimino, Warren Zevon & more. The book is about “those who failed, faltered, and whose triumphs are punctuated by flops...”

Matthew shares his fascination with Carol Eastman, best known for Five Easy Pieces. He was deeply touched by her prose writings, comparing her to poets like Hart Crane and Wallace Stevens.

The book and the interview also delves more deeply into women's contributions to Hollywood, focusing on other overlooked talents like Eleanor Perry and Elaine May. Matthew reflects on his mother, a one-time screenwriter, and how her generation had less opportunity to develop their skills.

Why a hybrid memoir? Matthew was reading, and inspired by, writers like Hilton Als, Heidi Julavits, and Olivia Laing. He wanted to create a narrative that wasn’t limited to—or rather moved beyond—the self, weaving together cultural criticism about Hollywood and creative crises.

We talk a lot about voice, which Matthew says is crucial for him to discover early on. “Once I can locate the voice for any piece of writing... I have it in the pocket,” he says. The narrator of this book blends personal reflections with a noir quality, he says.

Matthew sees himself as a novelist at heart. He considers the narrative tools of a novelist indispensable, even when writing memoirs and cultural critiques: “I am fundamentally a novelist....I think that's part of being a fiction writer or novelist is, you know, anything that you write is a kind of criticism in code. You're always responding to other texts.”

Matthew begins by explaining his unique research style: "I'm kind of ravenous and a little deranged about it...” His research process involves intuitive dives, like a two-day blitz through Carol Eastman's archives.

The discussion also touched on Matthew's upbringing with a mom who was a one-time screenwriter and who crossed the picket line during one writer’s strike, and his father, who had modest beginnings but went on to become a famous Hollywood “superagent” representing Marlon Brando, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren & many others.

At the same time, Matthew explores misconceptions around Hollywood glitz, addressing the middle-class reality of many involved in the film industry. For a long-time, Hollywood could support such middle-class creatives, Matthew contends, something that is no longer really possible.

Addressing the evolution of the entertainment industry, Matthew notes the shift towards debt servicing, influenced by corporate acquisitions. This financial pragmatism often overrides the creative impulse, squeezing the middle class out.

Another takeaway? The creative world, especially in Hollywood, is fraught with periods of drift and struggle. In one sense, Always Crashing In the Same Car is a love letter to that state of things.

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"I still kind of think of [Always Crashing...] as being secretly a novel. Not because it's full of made up s**t...but because I think sometimes our idea of what a novel is is pretty limited. You know, there's no reason why a novel can't be, like, 98% fact."

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About Matthew Specktor

Matthew Specktor’s books include the novels That Summertime Sound and American Dream Machine, which was long-listed for the Folio Prize; the memoir-in-criticism Always Crashing in The Same Car: On Art, Crisis, and Los Angeles, California, and ...

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Key Takeaways

Matthew shares his fascination with Carol Eastman, best known for Five Easy Pieces. He was deeply touched by her prose writings, comparing her to poets like Hart Crane and Wallace Stevens.

Another takeaway? The creative world, especially in Hollywood, is fraught with periods of drift and struggle. In one sense, Always Crashing In the Same Car is a love letter to that state of things.

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About Matthew Specktor

Previous Episode

Evan Dalton Smith:"'You can make a career out of writing weird, little books'"

Today’s guest is the writer and poet Evan Dalton Smith. His first book, part personal story and part cultural study, is called Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Journey. We talk about the power of nostalgia, finding personal resilience, and pursuing meaningful storytelling.

We also discuss the nearly decade-long journey of taking an 8,200-word essay (published in the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2013) and turning it into a full-length manuscript. And we talk about Andy Griffith's impact on pop culture, Evan's own experiences with father figures, and the challenges of writing through life's upheavals.

I think Evan’s story exemplifies the intense and highly personal journey of writing a book—and how the most unexpected things can happen once you embark on that journey.

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“When we first met, [my agent said], ‘this is a weird little book, but you can make a career out of writing a lot of weird little books.’ —Evan Dalton Smith

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

The book explores the power of cultural nostalgia: Nostalgia is a power force in our media consumption. And The Andy Griffith Show is a rare phenomenon, like Star Trek or the Twilight Zone, in that its become a touchstone for many generations of viewers. Even in the 1960s, the show’s writers were feeling nostalgic—for them, the show’s setting and characters were based on their own experiences of the 1930s.

Evan's personal connection to the show is rooted in his childhood experiences of loss and search for father figures. Evan’s father was tragically killed in an car crash when he was 5, and his mother grew dependant on narcotics. Discovering The Andy Griffith Show provided something stable missing at home. What Evan discovered writing this book is that the show’s mythic, idealized version of small-town America has provided a similar balm for its many fans.

The journey of transforming an essay into a book-length manuscript can be a tough one. Transforming an essay into a full-length book can be fraught with challenges, especially when it involves personal stories interwoven with cultural analysis. Particularly when, as in Smith’s case, real-life intervenes.

Writing a book that balances cultural inquiry with personal narrative means pushing past discomfort into telling your own story. “I did struggle putting myself into the narrative...I added a lot more about my life than I intended to,” he says.

Often times one book project will point to the next one. In this book, Evan explored his mother’s struggle with narcotics, something he hadn’t originally planned to do. But it also laid the groundwork for his next book, which will wrestle with the personal and cultural costs of this particular drug.

Evan’s story dramatizes the very real life struggles many authors face to balance their writing with their life. Over the decade of this book’s journey, Evan went through an unexpected divorce and relocation, and he found himself working multiple jobs. In the end, it’s always about figuring out figuring out how to make use of little bits of time and learning to become more resourceful.

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"I learned to write on my phone, which is annoying for the people in my life [who] think I'm just, you know, jerking around on my phone. But a lot of times I'm working." —Evan Dalton Smith

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ABOUT EVAN DALTON SMITH

Evan’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, LA Times , Slate, Salon, LA Review of Books, Paris Review, Ploughshares, The New Yorker , and elsewhere.

Formerly, he served as Associate Web Editor at Poets & Writers, Inc., and Director of Publications for the Student Press Initiative at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Originally a native of North Carolina, he now lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Story is his first book.

DISCUSSED

Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Story UNC Press | Bookshop | Amazon

Our Town: Andy Griffith and the Humor of Mourning, Los Angeles Review of Books, April 20, 2013

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Next Episode

Joan Leegant:"I have no clue what I'm going to do when I sit down to write stories"

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Joan Leegant to discuss her new short story collection, Displaced Persons. Joan shares insights into her writing process, including how she often begins stories with no preset idea and allows stories to emerge from a first sentence.

Many of Joan’s stories are set among immigrants and Americans living in Israel. And while Joan’s collection was accepted for publication before October 7th, it came in June, in the midst of a highly polarized and frightening time for people on every side of the current conflict. So we talk about what it’s been like for Jewish writers publishing today, and also the way that fiction allows for empathic connections not always available in daily life.

"My method of writing anything, particularly short stories, is that I have no clue what I'm going to do when I sit down to write it. I have no clue what it's going to be about."

Key Takeaways

Joan's collection is set in Israel and America, focusing on displaced individuals. She highlights the interplay of naive Americans with complex realities, particularly in Israel.

A notable story, Displaced Persons, features an American teaching English to African refugees. Joan explores the absurdity of a country founded by displaced persons dealing with new displaced populations.

"The material just was kind of urging itself to come out," Joan says about the stories she wrote while working on other novels. It's a testament to the compelling nature of the themes she explores.

In Remittances, the narrator empathizes with marginalized workers in Tel Aviv. It's a story of immigrants in a land that symbolizes a second chance, reflecting Israel as a haven for those on the edge.

Another powerful story, Beautiful Souls, follows two American girls in Jerusalem. Their naivete leads them into dangerous situations, showcasing the often startling collision of American innocence with Israeli realities.

Joan’s stories on mental illness are deeply human, exploring family dynamics through the lens of mental health, not as a central theme but as a way to navigate complex relationships.

We discuss the impact of the Israel-Gaza war and the polarized publishing landscape. Though accepted before the October 7 attacks, Displaced Persons landed post-crisis, and Joan says she’s navigated the current landscape by focusing on the universal human elements of her stories.

Fiction is transformative. Joan cites the power of fiction to expand empathy, offering a “glimpse into some deeper truth.” It’s about illuminating the complexities of life through imagined worlds.

Leegant’s belief in the power of fiction to expand empathy is echoed by George Saunders, who describes a story as a "black box" that provides a deeper glimpse into human nature. "You need to illuminate human truth, but you do it through imagined stories," says Leegant.

Joan’s idea of “associative leaps” in writing, where characters’ truths emerge organically, enriches her storytelling. Her characters' voices and feelings drive the narrative, rather than a pre-planned agenda.

On navigating the current volatile landscape: Joan learned to balance sensitivity with openness, not shying away from broader literary and academic engagements, while being mindful of the potential for polarization.

During a recent visit to Israel, Joan facilitated writing workshops helping teachers process trauma through expressive writing, a poignant testament to the healing power of storytelling.

We discuss fiction’s ability to explore complex human conditions and to bridge gaps of empathy and understanding. "Our capacity should not be just read about people we already know, or we are exactly alike, but people we are nothing like," Leegant remarks.

"Our capacity should not be just read about people we already know, or we are exactly alike, but people we are nothing like."

About Joan Leegant

Joan Leegant's new story collection, Displaced Persons, won the New American Fiction Prize. Joan's first collection, An Hour in Paradise, won the PEN/New England Book Award and the Wallant Award, and was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. She is also the author of a novel, Wherever You Go, named a "Significant Jewish Book" by the Union of Reform Judaism.

Formerly a lawyer, from 2007 to 2013 Joan was the visiting writer at Bar-Ilan University outside Tel Aviv where she also gave talks on American literature and culture under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy and was a volunteer ESL teacher for Afri...