Fred Waitzkin biography

Interview

Fred Waitzkin talks about fishing trips and the complex relationship with his father that colors his writing in many interesting ways.

1. Q: In your novel you explore some of the same subjects in your memoirs that parallel your own life: the complex father/son relationship as it relates to your father, who was a successful salesman and avid fisherman like your protagonist Jim, as well as the nature of competition. Why do these themes resonate with you?
   A: Clearly, my father got deeply into me. Abe was charming, driven, ruthless and sickly, often going into the hospital or coming out a hero after surviving another grim operation. He would do anything to close a deal. Abe ruined men who crossed him over lighting deals, put them out of business. But so what? In his time, he lit most of the new office buildings in Manhattan. He made the city skyline glow, which moved the hell out of me as a kid. I worshipped the ground he walked on. He took me to fancy steak restaurants where we never had to wait for a table. Tammany Hall politicians waved from across the room and he grinned back at them—he had them in his pocket. Abe Waitzkin was on top and I was his son. I still can't get free of him, not that I want to. He always gets into my books.
2. Q: Jim is a charismatic, yet flawed salesman who wins women and countless people over through his charms and schemes, ...