Thursday, July 07, 2011

"HOW I CAME TO WRITE THIS BOOK": THE END OF EVERYTHING: Megan Abbott



The following was written as part of a reading group guide.

THE END OF EVERYTHING: A Novel,
by Megan E. Abbott

When I was a kid growing up in Grosse Pointe, a Detroit suburb, I was best friends with a girl named Jody. She lived three doors down from me, and she was blond and delicate where I was ruddier, more tomboyish, more bookish. But we were a perfect match and we spent all our time together. I particularly remember our summers, taking the bus to the community pool, spending our allowance on frozen Snickers bars at the snack bar, parading in our driveways, doing “beach towel” fashion shows by draping our towels into elaborate sarongs.

Part of Jody’s allure was a certain magic in her family, which seemed so much more exotic than my own. She had a raven-haired mother who looked like Elizabeth Taylor and who would sit in the driveway all day in glamorous bathing suits, tanning herself to perfection.

Her father was, no joke, a private detective, the strong, silent type, and his entrances and exits into our life were thrilling. Her sisters were teenagers with boyfriends and rebellions that fascinated. Her older brother, past college, was handsome and kind, with a beautiful girlfriend who lived above a dance studio.

Spending time there, in the attic-eaved second floor, with its pale blue panels hiding secret niches and alcoves, was my favorite, favorite thing to do. I can still remember lying on that deep blue shag in Jody’s bedroom, our bodies matching, our laughter.

Later, we grew apart—a slow process and a painful one. And the family that seemed so perfect began to suffer through small and then large tragedies—a wayward sister gone more wayward, the parents’ separation and then divorce, and, most terrible of all, the death of Jody’s older brother in a boating accident.

There’s something so intense about these relationships we have with other families during our formative years, and that’s one of the main things I wanted to explore in The End of Everything.

The narrator, thirteen-year-old Lizzie, feels so close to her best friend, Evie Verver, that she even feels at times like they share a skin, and the enchantment of the Verver family is a spell she is sure will never break. All her ideas of life come from her time there, in particular the warm glow Mr. Verver, Evie’s handsome dad, casts on the family, the home.

Without even realizing all this (really, until just now), all my feelings of Jody and her family flooded the book, and how could they not? These early relationships, the way we think they will stay the same forever (we need to believe they will), they matter. They form us. And, when they fall apart, we have to do the hard work of building ourselves back up all our own.

Megan Abbott is the author of four previous novels, one of which, QUEENPIN, won the Edgar and Barry awards. BURY ME DEEP was nominated for seven awards in 2009. She has also written a non-fiction book, THE STREET IS MINE (Palgrave) and edited the anthology, A HELL OF A WOMAN (Busted Flush Press). You can find her blog right here. And her web site right here.

A reminder, reviews on Amazon do sell books. If you've read and liked THE END OF EVERYTHING, please write a quick review. Thanks, Patti

23 comments:

Deb said...

I wonder if naming the family "Verver" was a nod to Henry James's THE GOLDEN BOWL (my favorite dysfunctional family novel, wherein Maggie Verver discovers her husband is having an affair with her step-mother). Regardless, I'm looking forward to reading THE END OF EVERYTHING.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I'll have to ask her.

Anonymous said...

Patti - Thanks for hosting Megan.


Megan - Those inter-family relationships really can be so intense! They can consume us, can't they? What a fascinating topic to take up in a novel, and thanks for sharing the connection between The End of Everything and your own growing-up years.

Charles Gramlich said...

The changes we see in family dynamics over our lifetimes, both in our own and in those near us, are amazing fodder for writers. They often show humans at their worst,and their best.

Anonymous said...

Deb, I wondered about the Verver name too. It's just not that common and it jumped out at me.

I'm looking forward to reading it, Patti.

Jeff M.

Gerard Saylor said...

I've skipped reading every description of this novel. I'd rather be surprised.

Thursday seems like an odd day for a release date. My library's copy is due to arrive tomorrow.

Naomi Johnson said...

This book brought back memories of my own best friend when I was 10-11, and how I thought then that she belonged more to me than to her own family.

Gerard, it's a brilliant book, and I'm not surprised a discussion guide was/is being developed for it.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, that's a great point, Naomi. Do our friends as children belong more to us and when the relationship ends what happens to the one left?

Chris said...

Here I thought this was already out; no wonder I haven't found it on the shelf anywhere yet. That's what happens when people with ARCs start reporting on books weeks, even months, beforehand.

Anyway, can't wait to read it. Megan is one of my favorite writers. She must come from good stock.

Anonymous said...

I've had my copy for a few weeks, got it on publication day (Amazon pre-order).

Growing up in the country, I didn't have any close my-age friends, so this scenario is not known to me. It was about 5 miles to the nearest kid my age, and I didn't like him very much. My best friend was a car ride away, so we only saw each other at school and occasionally in the summer (Dad at work, Mom didn't drive much).

This book is on the shelf, but it'll have to wait until the summer reading list has taken care of.

Jack Bates said...

Just picked it up. Next two days of revisions and edits on hold until I finish it. Haven't been this geeked to read since Bury Me Deep.

BV Lawson said...

Best wishes to Megan on her book tour, Patti! I'm looking forward to getting my copy soon from our local little indie bookstore up the road.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Thanks one and all.

Gerard said...

Our copy came arrived earlier this afternoon.

Word verification: dicator. A dictator from Decatur.

Dorte H said...

Thank you for hosting Megan!

It was fun (and must have been so for you) to read about the attraction of her friend´s exotic family as I am sure she has realized long ago a bronzed Elizabeth Taylor is not the ideal mother ;)

Another thing that interests me is the teenage narrator as I asked my readers for examples of teenage characters in crime fiction the other day - not exactly the easiest voice to get right, but I am sure Megan is capable of that.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Of course, my view of this family is very different than Megan's. Had I know its influence, I doubt I would have been so content to have her up in those eaves.

Heath Lowrance said...

Amazing writing talent clearly runs in the Abbott family.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Too kind but I will tell my husband you said so.

Dana King said...

So this was your big news for July 7, and welcome news it is. I'll be adding THE END OF EVERYTHING to my Wish List tonight. Congratulations to Megan and good luck.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Thanks, Dana.

C. Margery Kempe said...

I remember my family being so fond of my girlfriend Liz (who was neglected by her own family) that I got jealous of the attention. Then she dropped me when she got a boyfriend. I hate that kind of thing.

Chris said...

Just called Murder By the Book in Houston, where Megan is signing (with Sara Gran and Duane Swierczynski; I wish I was there tonight!) tonight, and ordered a copy for her to sign. As I will be in Houston on Monday, I'll pick it up then . . . and have it finished by this time next week. Can't wait!

Yvette said...

I will be reading this for sure, Patti and Megan. It's on my list. Thanks, Megan, for writing about it so evocatively. Your words reminded my of my own growing up and the family of my best friend which always seemed to much more glamorous and cool and what's more the mom knew how to cook spaghetti the proper way.

When that family fell apart after some years and things didn't go the way they were supposed to, I don't think I ever really got over it.