JONATHAN AMES TALKS ABOUT THE ALCOHOLIC GN

[MattBrady]

by Michael Lorah

Jonathan Ames writes, performs, and boxes. He developed a Showtime pilot based on the autobiographical sketches in his book What's Not to Love?, starred in the independent movie The Girl Under the Waves, and appeared on the David Letterman show. The novels I Pass Like Night, The Extra Man, and Wake Up, Sir! are his. With an off-Broadway one-man show also on his resume, Ames hasn’t met a storytelling form he hasn’t wanted to try his hand at.

He’s also friends with Dean Haspiel, so it comes as no surprise that Haspiel eventually convinced Ames to try his hand at the world of comics. The resulting graphic novel, The Alcoholic, is the often amusing, often harrowing story of writer Jonathan A.’s (it’s fiction, Ames swears) descent into substance abuse and self-loathing after the girl of his dreams hangs him out to dry.

Jonathan Ames answered our questions about The Alcoholic, the autobiographical truths in fiction writing, and working in comics for the first time.

NRAMA: Jonathan, let’s start with the important stuff: what’s your favorite drink, and have you ever really had a giant party with five coeds wearing only their underwear?

Jonathan Ames: My favorite drink, which I’m having right now, is a cup-of-coffee-when-I-really-need-one. Nothing quite changes my mood, usually for the better, than a properly administered cup of coffee. Coeds – I did once teach at an all-girls school and I recall a wild night, but the details, I’m afraid, are blurry. There may have been underwear, there may not have been.

NRAMA: You’ve said that The Alcoholic is about a guy on bender after a girl breaks his heart, right? What makes this particular guy’s heartbreak and bender so noteworthy?

JA: I’ve said that this book is about guy on a bender after his heart has been broken as a quick one-line description, but in the end, it turned out to be more of a life story, and how this guy, Jonathan A., is losing everyone he loves. What makes this noteworthy, I don’t know. Not for me to say, I guess.

NRAMA: The Alcoholic is fiction, yet you’re famed for your exaggerated (hopefully!) and farcical memoirs. And the main character, the alcoholic himself, is named Jonathan A. Do you distinguish between fiction and reality?

JA: Yes, I do distinguish the two. As soon as I make something up, I call it fiction, which is the case with The Alcoholic. If I don’t make anything up, I call it non-fiction. I’ve always worked autobiographically, and with the fiction, even if the events have been changed or made up, the core of the emotions is autobiographically true. I named the character Jonathan A. to make myself close to him, to get at raw things, but so much is made up that it can’t be called a memoir.

NRAMA: I was surprised that you dealt with 9/11 as directly as you did. After pages of very entertaining, masochistic chemical abuses, longing for girls and untimely bowel movements, you really contrasted that bawdy treatment of life and survival against very real, human suffering and coping. Was there any particular motivation to tie your story to that real-world event and time frame, rather than leaving The Alcoholic in a nebulous era?

JA: I hadn’t written much about 9/11 and this was a chance, and also it was emotionally autobiographical for me to have the character going through his heartbreak during a time of a national heartbreak.

NRAMA: Now you’ve said that the character Jonathan A. is not you, but he does share elements of your emotional life. I have to ask, Jonathan, because I first met my girlfriend’s parents for lunch at the Manhattan restaurant Veselka, did you really have lunch there with Monica Lewinsky (among others)?

JA: Yes, I really ate at Veselka with Monica Lewinsky. It was a dinner and she was a very nice person, rather charismatic.

NRAMA: You said at New York Comicon this year that you enjoyed the cliffhangers in Y: The Last Man, and though this is a self-contained graphic novel, I noticed that you added some dramatic pauses where you jump back and forth in time, teasing a situation before going back to fill in back-story. How did you approach this book structurally?

JA: I always like to work in a linear, chronological fashion, but as I wrote this, I realized I needed to go back in time and explain who this character is and was, and at the same time, I wanted to keep the tension of the current actions pushing forward . . . The first fifty pages or so are, nevertheless, mostly flashback, and then from that point forward the story moves straight ahead. The resulting structure wasn’t so much intentional but improvised, which seems to be the way with most art – you start out with an idea and then new ideas come up that you have to incorporate.

NRAMA: Along similar lines, The Alcoholic was your first stab at comics writing. While it was in production, you did write the webcomic Next Door Neighborless with Nick Bertozzi on art, but did you find any unexpected difficulties or surprising pleasures in adapting to the demands of comics storytelling?

JA: I enjoyed the process. It requires you to think visually, which was fun – coming up with what should go each in panel, trying to think of things that would be fun for Dean Haspiel (my collaborator on The Alcoholic) to draw, and you also have to be economical, since there can’t be too much dialogue or captioning, and this is also good – makes you come right out and say things directly and forcefully.

NRAMA: Speaking of Dean Haspiel, “How the hell did I let him talk me into this?” or “Hey, y’know, this wasn’t the worst idea he’s ever had?”

JA: Working with Dean was amazing. He’s wildly gifted. When I would get back the pencils every two weeks, I was always shocked and pleased at how intuitive he was, how he would draw what was in my mind’s eye. He would also interpret the script in unexpected ways, which were always just beautiful and powerful. He put so much life and effort into this book. He’s a passionate artist.

NRAMA: So you’re not going to challenge him to your next celebrity boxing match?

JA: No, he’s my friend. We did arm-wrestle once. It was very close, but I think I won.

NRAMA: Now that you’ve done a webcomic and a graphic novel, do you expect to write more comics?

JA: I think I will.

For more information about Jonathan Ames, go to www.jonathanames.com/. The Alcoholic ships in September 2008 from Vertigo.

[fmyii]

Count me in. I was hooked at "Alcoholic". Having been on a legitimate bender or two in my time this is a great concept for a graphic novel!

[Billy Tucci]

I became a fan of Mr. Ames' after seeing one of his book readings about 14 years ago. He's a storytelling genius who melds every spectrum of one's emotions into a hilarious and touching cauldron of entertainment. I also enjoyed "The Extra Man" immensely -- a must read for anyone interested in the adventures of a wide-eyed Manhattanite struggling to find his identity. Now, I cannot wait to pick up "The Alcoholic." I always thought Jonathan would create brilliant comics, and believe I told him so one, so I have no doubt "The Alcoholic" will be, well, brilliant - the man is simply a literary force of nature.

[weaselwelch]

Look interesting. When it comes out in August I will have to pick this up. Besides always been a fan of Dean Haspiel.

[Skinshark]

Great cover design...it's really the only way you can go with that.

=s=

[bkwrds]

Huge fan of Dean's. Can't wait to pick this up.