Writers Who Read
LIVE! #41
LIVE! #41
1 May 2022
Intimacies
by Katie Kitamura
by Katie Kitamura
Agenda
- Why We're Here
- Literary Forensics
- - What do I bring?
- - What do I feel?
- - What do I notice?
- - What do I study?
- Next Month's Reading & Study
Why We're Here
We Writers want to improve our craft
by Reading like a Writer
through Literary Forensics training
we learn from each other
Roundtable Rules
Always refer back to the book
We practice active listening & serendipity
Every feeling and observation is valid...
but not every conclusion
Always refer back to the book
Meet today's author: Katie Kitamura
- Education
- Undergrad: Princeton; PhD in American literature, London Consortium
- Thesis: The Aesthetics of Vulgarity and the Modern American Novel (2004)
- Writes for
- The Guardian, The New York Times, and Wired
- - Articles on mixed martial arts, film criticism and analysis, and art
- 4 Novels
- The Longshot, 2009
- Gone to the Forest, 2013
- A Separation, 2017
- Intimacies, 2021
- 1 Memoir
- Japanese for Travellers: A Journey, 2006
“An intimacy that’s forced upon you is a form of violence.”
- Katie Kitamura
What do I feel?
What in the book elicited that feeling?
Every feeling and observation is valid...
but every conclusion should be questioned
We practice serendipity
- nothing is too crazy
Always refer back to the book
What do I notice?
- • Language and Grammar
- • Context
- • Point of view
- • Character & character development
- • Pacing
- • Horizontal structure
- • Layering of themes
- • Overall effect
What is
Vulgarity?
Intimacies - Stats
Marketing: Psychological Literary Fiction; Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction;
Women's Psychological Fiction
Genre: Present-Day Archplot Longform
Print Pages: 238; Reading Grade: 8-10
Word count: 52,766; Avg. wds/sent.: 17.75
Lexical Density: 40.93; Flesch Reading Ease: 65.13
POV: Narrator; Person: 1st; Tense: Past
Publish date: July 20, 2021
Publisher: Riverhead
Sold By: Penguin / Random House
Audio book narr.: Traci Kato-Kiriyama (5:26)
Awards: National Bestseller; Longlisted for 2021 National Book Award;
New York Times Top 10 of 2021; Barack Obama's 2021 Reading List
Writers Who Read: Coming Up
June 5: Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen (USA, 2021)
Summer Break
Start back up again on Sunday, September 4
Gary presenting at RMFW Conference Friday, September 9