Ask the Author: Lawrence Wright
Answered Questions (136)
Lawrence Wright
thanks, Derek. I read a ton of books about the history of the Middle East while I was writing my account of the 1978 Carter-Begin-Sadat summit that led to the first and most durable peace in the Mideast, 'Thirteen Days in September." Many histories and memoirs came from that. Benny Morris wrote a great book A not so obvious choice is Yehuda Avner's charming "The Prime Ministers." Mohammed Heikel's "Autumn of Fury" is a devastating account from the Egyptian side. Many many more!
Lawrence Wright
I suppose al-Qaeda is easier to understand, in terms of the young people who are attracted to it, often from broken countries offering few opportunities. Al-Qaeda offers them the chance to change history. Scientology sells the idea of personal success, but the cost can be ruinous, both financially and in terms of the destruction of relationships. Unlike the case of al-Qaeda, that's not obvious from the start.
Lawrence Wright
Thanks, Daniya. I was a conscientious objector during Vietnam, and have always had a horror of war. The message I have in "The End of October" is that war is evolving to be more awful and indiscriminate.
Lawrence Wright
the goal of the private investigators was to intimidate my sources, so of course they were a problem. The harassment they deal out to former members is inexcusable. For me, it was more inept bordering on comic.
Lawrence Wright
Thanks, Andrew, those are very interesting questions. let me start with the last one. I wish I had taken my own future more seriously. I was an indifferent student, and I've spent a lot of time trying to make up for that. Magazines will continue, in one form or another. I thought I was in a dying industry for a long time but I've seen how hungry people are to get into subjects deeply, and that's what magazines offer. Prepare yourself by acquiring skills: languages, history, political science, explore ardently and never stop. And you'll have a wonderful career.
Lawrence Wright
As a matter of fact, I'm writing a massive piece for The New Yorker right now, and I treat exactly that question in the piece. Look for it sometime in the fall. Interesting question.
Lawrence Wright
It's sure trending that way, isn't it? I think the U.S. will regain its footing, but China is surging. We'll remain co-dependent antagonists for years to come. That's my guess, but history always has tricks up its sleeve, doesn't it?
Lawrence Wright
I can give you a full answer on Oct. 2, the second anniversary of Jamal's murder, when Showtime airs a documentary I co-produced, "The Kingdom of Silence." Hope you watch, it's a shocking story.
Lawrence Wright
I loved writing that book. I couldn't believe my good fortune to find such an amazing story. There's an interesting book by Frederick Crews, "The Memory Wars," which examines Freud's legacy--the basis of so much misinformation. Richard Ofshe and Ethan Watters wrote "Making Monsters," which examines other cases, as well as the Ingram case.
Lawrence Wright
The Middle East gives the appearance of never changing, and alliances are always changing. Right now the only country besides Tunisia that seems to be really making a move toward democracy is Iraq--this, despite all the bloodshed and ethnic rivalries. It's messy but it is something like democracy. I don't have much hope for other Arab countries where tyranny has become even more entrenched.
Lawrence Wright
Thanks. I'm writing a couple of pieces for The New Yorker about the Covid crisis. One should be out in two weeks, the other is a huge piece scheduled for early fall.
Lawrence Wright
The short answer is no. But there is a broader context. Israel now has alliances in the Arab World that it is reluctant to surrender, such as UAE, Qatar, and to a lesser extent, Saudi and Egypt. Normalizing Israel's presence in the Middle East is a big step, one that could be in the direction of peace. On the other hand, there's a total lack of leadership, which accounts for the continuing stalemate.
Lawrence Wright
Thanks, Cooper. I always look for a central character, a figure I call a donkey. It sounds disparaging, but a donkey is a useful beast of burden; he can carry a lot of information on his back. Moreover, he can take the reader into a world he doesn't know. In the Looming Tower, I had four donkeys: John O'Neill, Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden, and Prince Turki al-Faisal. Each of them played a critical role in the story I had to tell. Once you find your donkey, it's easier to meld the mass of information you accumulate. Good luck with your career.
Lawrence Wright
Absolutely. I think religious cults replaced political ones in the mid-twentieth century. Naziism had been conquered. Stalinism lingered after the dictator's death. The Cultural Revolution took hold in China in the mid-sixties. People were more cautious about the danger of political extremism. But right at that time, religious cults began to flourish. They served the same purposes: creating community and meaning, while at the same time often veering toward oppression.
Lawrence Wright
Until recently, they still had an attack ad on the Internet that was the first thing you saw if you googled me, but that seems to have fallen off. I suppose they've moved on.
Lawrence Wright
Thanks, Paul, I think that's one of the most interesting stories I ever got to tell.
Lawrence Wright
If I can't write at all, I'll go for a run, which is always a good way to engage discursive thoughts. Often I'll get an idea within a hundred yards. If that doesn't work, I go back and make myself think and fumble forward until I finally get something on paper, even if it stinks. It's always harder to start the next morning with a knot you couldn't solve the night before.
Lawrence Wright
Well, every nonfiction book is different so it's hard to establish a baseline. For "The Looming Tower" I spent five years and interviewed 600 people. For "God Save Texas," it was far fewer, about a hundred, I suppose. In this case, I was looking for sources who would become more like co-conspirators, letting me into their laboratories but also their minds. I would go back to some of them again and again, even to solve plot problems. I suppose there were about fifty in total.
Lawrence Wright
I do think that high schoolers are mature enough for this book. It's not vulgar or sexually explicit. There is violence but it is contextualized.
Lawrence Wright
It always changes with the story. One of my favorite moments researching "The End of October" was going to a submarine base in Kings Bay, Georgia, and getting a tour of one of our monster subs, with 24 nuclear missiles. They were doing a test at the time, and while I was in the targeting room, one of the sailors asked if I wanted to push the button. Are you sure it's just a test? I asked. Anyway, we're still here.
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