Joseph Riippi is author of the books Because, A Cloth House, and The Orange Suitcase, as well as the chapbooks Puyallup, Washington (an interrogation) and Treesisters. His next novel, Research (A Novel for Performance) will be published in fall 2014.
An excerpt from his novel, Because, appeared in Issue Fifty-Five of The Collagist.
Here, he answers questions "in the form of excerpts"--with further excerpts from Because. Enjoy!
What is writing like?
Like reliving. (p18)
Like it’s about to snow. (p162)
Like a great actor on a bare stage. (p15)
Like waves. (p19)
Like leaves falling up. (p33)
Like a toyshop. (p34)
Like under a blanket in childhood. (p24)
What isn’t writing like?
Like shit. (p22)
Like swimming. (p32)
Like football players (p35)
Like the heaven where my grandfather lives. (p57)
Like what our prayers might sound like to God. (p57)
When you do it, why?
Because I want, if nothing else, for you to understand how much we love. (p162)
Because I honestly don’t remember and I don’t want to look it up. (p104)
Because of her. (p109)
When you don’t, why?
Because I don’t know, not exactly, what I’m trying to say. (p17)
Because even imagined spiders can scare the life out of you. (p92)
Because then I will sweat less. (p113)