Rachel Aviv

And she said, I didn't mean cross out flattering adjectives. I meant, you know, scrap the whole book.

And she said, I didn't mean cross out flattering adjectives. I meant, you know, scrap the whole book.

Right. And she said, you know, to ignore this is to ignore sort of the context in which these stories are written. I think there was this—he was trying to hold onto this idea, and the family members were too, that something—that this was between Jerry and Andrea, like this sort of delusional idea that it was a two-person interaction.

Right. And she said, you know, to ignore this is to ignore sort of the context in which these stories are written. I think there was this—he was trying to hold onto this idea, and the family members were too, that something—that this was between Jerry and Andrea, like this sort of delusional idea that it was a two-person interaction.

I think it's Vandals from 1993. Talk about that story. I read the letters that Alice wrote to her agent and she said, first she wrote that she had started a story and she called it about, it was about the subject. And she said she approached it from different angles and then she felt like she was going to throw up and she burned it. And then two months later, she had written a draft of Vandals.

I think it's Vandals from 1993. Talk about that story. I read the letters that Alice wrote to her agent and she said, first she wrote that she had started a story and she called it about, it was about the subject. And she said she approached it from different angles and then she felt like she was going to throw up and she burned it. And then two months later, she had written a draft of Vandals.

It's about a young girl named Liza and her younger brother. And in the summers, they go every day to play with this man and his wife, who has sort of become a mother figure. And the man is sexually abusing the children. It sort of emerges. The story is sort of structured as an investigation into whether the mother knows and chooses to look away, or doesn't know but should know.

It's about a young girl named Liza and her younger brother. And in the summers, they go every day to play with this man and his wife, who has sort of become a mother figure. And the man is sexually abusing the children. It sort of emerges. The story is sort of structured as an investigation into whether the mother knows and chooses to look away, or doesn't know but should know.

And in that story, there are lines Or images that are almost lifted from the letter that Andrea wrote to her mother disclosing her abuse and from a letter that Jerry wrote about their relationship. So it feels, you can sort of see pieces of sort of language, sentences that must have like lit her up in some way or like made her feel like she had to build a story around it.

And in that story, there are lines Or images that are almost lifted from the letter that Andrea wrote to her mother disclosing her abuse and from a letter that Jerry wrote about their relationship. So it feels, you can sort of see pieces of sort of language, sentences that must have like lit her up in some way or like made her feel like she had to build a story around it.

She did for a while. It must have been horrific. You know, she said that for a while she almost tried to convince herself to be hopeful, and she felt like, okay, here she is. She's getting it out. She's working through it. You know, there was one story, Rich as Stink, that has this image of a daughter wearing a wedding dress that burns.

She did for a while. It must have been horrific. You know, she said that for a while she almost tried to convince herself to be hopeful, and she felt like, okay, here she is. She's getting it out. She's working through it. You know, there was one story, Rich as Stink, that has this image of a daughter wearing a wedding dress that burns.

And it's this, like, and Andrea said, you know, here's this image of innocence destroyed. Like, there's this feeling that her mother must understand. And then eventually Andrea realized that, like, the insights were going to her characters and not to her daughters and not to herself.

And it's this, like, and Andrea said, you know, here's this image of innocence destroyed. Like, there's this feeling that her mother must understand. And then eventually Andrea realized that, like, the insights were going to her characters and not to her daughters and not to herself.

And then Andrea felt increasingly enraged by sort of the passivity of the characters, the sense of them sort of existing in this, like, bleak survival mode.

And then Andrea felt increasingly enraged by sort of the passivity of the characters, the sense of them sort of existing in this, like, bleak survival mode.

You know, I think this sort of is a defining problem in her life in a way, that she appears to be thriving.

You know, I think this sort of is a defining problem in her life in a way, that she appears to be thriving.

Right. And that, you know, in a way, as a child, it was a coping mechanism. There's a sense that, like, she held the key to either destroying her family or keeping their family together. And so they all felt like she was kind of the star of the family, the one who was the most like her mother. Right.

Right. And that, you know, in a way, as a child, it was a coping mechanism. There's a sense that, like, she held the key to either destroying her family or keeping their family together. And so they all felt like she was kind of the star of the family, the one who was the most like her mother. Right.