An excellent, four-part interview with Joseph O’Neill, author of Netherland, is running through the week on The Elegant Variation. Part 1 starts here.
Some excerpts:
TEV: Your wife was your editor at FSG and she turned down your second novel. Have you gotten over that or is it still a thing?
Joseph O’Neill: I’m still punishing her for that ...
….
TEV: How do you know when your novel is finished? Insofar as it’s ever finished.
Joseph O’Neill: I don’t know. I don’t know if there is a magic moment.
TEV: When did you know you were finished with Netherland?
Joseph O’Neill: I kept telling myself I’d nearly finished, to keep going. You know, when you talk to writers they all say, “Oh yeah, I’m just about finishing my book.” Then, about two years later, you go back to them and you say, “How did the book go?” They say, “Oh, I’m still just putting the finishing touches on it.” It can go on forever.