A Conversation with Michael Kimball

“It’s a man writing letters of apology to everyone he’s ever known,” says novelist Michael Kimball of his new book Dear Everybody. However, as he points out, Jonathon Bender can’t tell his entire story (for many reasons, most of which will become clear as you read), so there are also notes, letters, stories, dialogue, and other types of documents in the story.

As Kimball tells it, his book is a modest thing; as other writers (including Dave Eggers and Stephen King) see it, it’s an excellent thing. If you watch my interview with Kimball, you’ll see that he is not only a working writer, but a writer who works on his manuscripts. He is one of the best authors we’ve had on in terms of talking about the challenges of finding an idea and working with it as it develops. 

I don’t always say this, so I hope you will indulge me: Read Dear Everybody. It is a work of literary inventiveness and great compassion.