Beth Golay

Let's talk about him on just a slightly deeper level and why Santa Flora would appeal to him.

The book has sort of a Robinson-esque feel to it, doesn't it?

I mean, except for the fact that Audie chose to go there, has a date when he will be picked up, and possesses a satellite phone for emergency extraction.

But there's still something a little appealing about marooning oneself for a while, isn't there?

How would you play the discs?

Well, you know, we're looking at this island, Santa Flora, but the world beyond Santa Flora is also, it's a bit ambiguous.

We know Adi is from, you know, quote unquote, the capital and Central Pacific is mentioned.

But other than that, we don't really get many hints about the state of the world.

So talk to me about this decision to place everything at a remove.

You mentioned that Adi has never had a pet, yet he begins to care for this endangered bird who he names E3.

Can you talk a little bit about this relationship and how it unfolds?

You know, there are several moral dilemmas brought forth in the text.

You know, eating meat that you've killed versus what you've purchased and wrapped in cellophane.

Eating meat at all.

Islands of trash in the oceans.

Ends of species.

What did you want to explore with these topics, through Audie or just on their own?

Ron Charles reviewed Eradication for the Washington Post, and the first sentence of his review reads, Jonathan Miles calls his new book a fable, but honestly, I think that's just to dodge the curse of calling it a novella.

Was it your intention when writing this from the beginning that it was a fable or is Ron Charles right?

I don't know if it was because it was presented to me as a fable, but I kept thinking like the tone and the point of view sort of, you know, reinforced that fable distinction.