How long did it take you to write The Lowland?
I didn’t write The Lowland.
Are you sure?
Pretty sure.
I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. How about a softball question to get us back on track?
Sounds good.
When was softball first introduced as an Olympic event?
I have no clue.
Have you ever been buried alive?
No.
Do you have any interesting tattoos?
Not a one.
What’s your favorite palindrome?
Xanax.
Have you ever spilled red wine on a white carpet?
Once.
Can I borrow some money?
Absolutely not.
Describe your perfect sundae.
Hot fudge, chopped nuts, whipped cream. Plenty of maraschino cherries.
Is there anything you can tell us about Understudies? What can we expect?
A whole lot of things: high school garage bands, bad reality television, missing snakes, perfumery, amateur photography, Harry Potter, baseball, motorcycles, silent film, Van de Graaff generators, cults, etc. Also, the prose is super good.
Are you on Twitter?
I am. You can follow me here: @ravi_mangla.
__________________________
RAVI MANGLA lives in Fairport, NY. His work has appeared in Mid-American Review, American Short Fiction, Tin House Online, The Rumpus, Mental Floss, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, among other publications. Understudies is his first novel. He keeps a website at ravimangla.com.
Leave a Reply