Beth Golay

You know, I mentioned that passage because there was another one later where she talks about herself as an art critic and she positions herself in a certain way.

And here's that quote.

I had loved becoming her, listening to her music, wearing her clothes, as I altered myself, changing my story, which I saw as an act of agency then and which I think now was an act of survival.

Can you talk about this?

Because this is not somebody else positioning Christine as they see her as this author who has written this sexy book, but it's Christine positioning herself.

You just mentioned the name Richard and you mentioned it a little while ago, too.

I want to talk about names because we do not learn Richard's name until like far into the second half of the book.

I mean, he's he's known as the old painter, I think.

And there are other characters.

I mean, we learn their names, but then there are some.

I mean, her ex, we know him as the ex, my ex.

That's how she talks about them.

Talk to me about the importance of a name, but also the importance of not allowing somebody to have a name.

I want to talk about the title.

The word discipline was referred to a couple of times in the book.

One when Christine admits that she had lied to Henry in Chicago at the museum when she told him she wasn't an artist.

She felt it was true because she had left that discipline.

And then again later when Christine is talking with a former fellow art student, Francis, Christine tries to claim that she, Christine, lacked discipline.

Talk to me about this word and why you chose it for your title.

What was the original title?