Steve Almond has written two story collections My Life in Heavy Metal and The Evil B.B. Chow as well as the nonfiction book Candyfreak. He lives and rocks in Arlington, Mass. Almond is one of the Writers@Work visiting authors who will read on Friday, June 23, 7 p.m., at the Main Library auditorium.
nnYou no longer teach at Boston College because of the school’s decision to invite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to speak at graduation. Any regrets?
nnTwo regrets: First, that I won’t have the privilege of teaching the students, whom I adored. And second, that the media focused on me and my decision rather than Secretary Rice and her pattern of lying to the American people about a war in which young Americans continue to die.
nnWhat’s the last good book you read?
nnThe Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo by Peter Orner. Breathtaking.
nnYour obsession with candy inspired Candyfreak. What is your favorite candy bar?
nnThey’re all dead and gone: the Caravelle, the Skrunch Bar, the Kit Kat Dark. Every time I fall in love with a bar, it disappears.
nnEmotional sex scenes pop up more often than not in your work. Why not leave more to the imagination?
nnI’m concerned with sex as it really exists'an ecstatic, hopeful, embarrassing, above all deeply human process. I personally hate it when authors fade to black just as the clothes are coming off. I mean, in what moments are we more human than during the acts of love?
nnYou sometimes wear women’s undergarments when you write about a female character. Describe what it means to be a “cross-writer?”
nnThat really depends on whether I’m wearing something loose and lacy, or a skin-tight, sheer thing, or a thong. I mean, I really hate to generalize.