Brian Strause biography

Interview

Brian Strause answers questions about Maybe A Miracle and his own believes, including what elements of his first novel are autobiographical, and whether he shares his protagonist's cynical opinions on subjects such as the Catholic Church, miracles and American values.

First novels are often considered to be autobiographies in disguise. How true is that of Maybe a Miracle? For instance, the main character, Monroe Anderson, lives in the town of your birth, Columbus, Ohio. Do the similarities go beyond the superficial?
This book is not autobiographical, although certain elements have been drawn from my life. While none of the major, or for that matter, minor plot points ever happened to me or anyone I know, Monroe is everything I wish I was and a lot of things I wish I hadn't been at 18. We're most alike in the sense that–like many teenagers–I led an awkward, internal life. No one had any idea what was going on in my head, and if they did they probably would have been quite concerned.

They say to write what you know, but unfortunately the life I've lived isn't exactly chock-full of drama. And indeed, I grew up in Columbus on an idyllic street in a storybook neighborhood. But it's not like Blue Velvet, where it was sordid once you start peeling back the layers. It was all quite painfully normal. Which is all to say, my own family–while incredibly supportive of me–are not particularly helpful when it comes to making up stories. There&#...