usatries media
When Curtis Sittenfeld sat down to write a novel inspired by Saturday night Live, he found himself faced with an overwhelming amount of source material. “So many of the cast members are writers themselves, and then so many people who have worked for the show but are not appearing on screen are writers as well. That’s why there is an abundance of memoirs,” Sittenfeld tells Bustle. She supplements her reading by listening to podcasts like David Spade and Dana Carvey’s fly on the wall and watching YouTube videos that break down the intricacies of making the show. “There was a time when I thought, ‘I read Everyone Memories. Then I realized, ‘No, I think I’ve read about 25% of the memoir.
suitable title romantic comedy The fictional TV show “The Night Owls” is based on snl in its format as well as in its allure to male cast members dating celebrity hosts. Except in Sittenfeld’s universe, it’s Sally Milz, a divorced, female sketch comedy writer in her late 30s, who has struck a spark with aging pop star Noah Brewster. Blurring the line between fiction and reality is familiar territory for Sittenfeld, who worked with former first lady Laura Bush (american wife) and Hillary Clinton (rodham, So when it came time to comb all the ingredients, she had a few tricks. “I know there’s a way I’ve probably moved towards the end [the research process] happens when I start getting the same information over and over,” she says. “With Rodham, I got to hear a story about the 2016 campaign four times and then I thought, ‘Okay, I get it.'”
all through sittenfeld snl research, she kept returning to the same question at the heart Romantic comedy. ,[I started writing] Idea, ,Who wouldn’t want to marry a comedian? Because the part that really isn’t mystifying to me is why all these beautiful, super successful women want to marry funny men,” she says. “But why does it seem that gorgeous, super successful men don’t want to marry particularly awkward women?”
Below, Sittenfeld reflects on his love of wool, reading sex scenes out loud, and the gift he received from Judy Bloom.
On a novel reminiscent of Jeff Bezos:
i just read the novel Belief by Hernan Diaz, This is the story of a super successful financier in the 1920s and how he amassed his wealth and what its implications were. So it has these echoes till the present moment. He personally made me think of Jeff Bezos. [There’s] An overarching story, told four times from four different points of view. it really deepens your understanding of what happened before [his success], and questions the veracity of what came before. So this is a really ambitious, smart book.
On the cloth she wears, she writes:
I live in Minnesota so it’s winter. [write in] Yoga pants made of wool from Athleta. Then I often wear a wool hat inside with a sweatshirt and a Patagonia fleece jacket. I have a lot of wool in my winter wardrobe. It’s a lifestyle.
On her good vibes-only office:
I have a shelf of gifts and souvenirs given to me by other writers. For example, Judy Blume had a book out in 2015 [called In the Unlikely Event] And I was one of the authors he interacted with for his book tour. To say thank you, she sent me a beautiful old fashioned mirrored compact. But it is also an art object, which is mentioned in the book. So I have that. The little nice things other writers give me makes me want to bring good energy to my office.
On the drawbacks of reading aloud:
[The weirdest thing I do] Maybe reading the sex scenes out loud. I had read Everything Loud for me, but when it’s sex it’s a little weird.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity,