Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘The Unknown Knowns’

Interviews |

Know Then Thyself: A Conversation with Jeffrey Rotter

Lee Thomas talks to debut novelist Jeffrey Rotter about the social risks of homemade clothing, museums as metaphors, the parallels between As I Lay Dying and reality T.V., and the ways in which imagination can change the world – for good and evil. The title of Rotter’s novel, The Unknown Knowns, alludes to that Donald Rumsfeld speech of linguistic loop-de-loops that would have driven George Orwell crazy; the book, which looks askance at our modern take on “Us vs. Them,” tackles the ontological questions presented by our vague and shadowy paranoia, but ups the ante considerably beyond the present moment in history to the personal crises that drive all good stories.


Shop Talk |

The Unknown Knowns by Jeffrey Rotter

On Thursday, Celeste read at Pete’s Candy Store with Jeffrey Rotter, whose debut novel The Unknown Knowns I’d been curious about. After hearing him read just a short excerpt, I picked up a copy. If the Dr. Seussish cover and Donald Rumsfeld allusion aren’t alluring enough, check out a sample here, and if Jeffrey Rotter is reading anywhere near you, don’t miss it. In the coming months, look for an interview with him here on FWR.