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- 1. Into the City When I first met Jackson Bauer, I thought he was a ghost from the Wild West. His cowboy boots, 10-gallon hat, and bolo tie were wonderfully out of place in the modern cafe we met in. However, at his home he fits right in. Among the cowboy paraphernalia, there is a strong sense of his love for Minnesota, as evidenced in his new novel The Sounds of Change. The novel follows a young boys turbulent life and music career from a dysfunctional childhood on the streets of St. Paul, to a journey across the globe, and finally a satisfying, long-awaited homecoming back to the cities that raised him. This novel redefines what it means to be Minnesotan and instills a special sense of pride in living in these two cities. This is now his third novel to make it on the New York Times Bestsellers list, but his first to deal with such a Minnesota theme. After reading this book, it is hard not to smile when looking at these two amazing cities. We recently met in his downtown Minneapolis home for lunch and an interview, and I couldnt pass up a chance to have his famous chili. After lunch, we settled down in his living roomhim with a pipe, me with a penand he told me his life story. These are some of the highlights of our conversation. What was it about being in Minnesota that first put stories in your mind? I was born and raised in the Twin Cities. Both of them. My familys house was in Minneapolis, but I went to Central High School in St. Paul so I had an even better idea of
- 2. Cohen 油2 油 the Twin Citiesthats one of the great things about this place, we are conjoined twins, connected at the hip, dependant on each other and separated by just a river. I was lucky to get to grow up in both cities. Most of my friends were either from St. Paul or from suburbs so they never really got to experience both cities like I did. Getting the feel for both was amazing because they truly two unique cities there is less order in St. Paul, even the street signs look different therebut thats part of what makes it special to me. How did that experience shape your writing? Looking backof course I didnt think this at the timebut looking back I think it was my experience of being able to develop as a man and writer in both of these cities that made me really love this place, and cities in general. I find it so amazing that each big city has such a different feel and culture to it. Thats actually something I have tried to explore in my novels. In all of my novels, setting always plays a huge part in the story. The setting and cities that my stories take place in are almost characters themselves, and I think that has a direct correlation to me growing up here. Like A Port in the Storm. Exactly. The story would have been so different if it had taken place anywhere other than Chicago. I mean, Colorado is great; obviously I love Colorado, but A Port in the Storm is so dependant on the character of Chicago that it would have gone completely differently had I set it in Denver, for example. And I find that interestingto try to incorporate the city as a main player as much as possible.
- 3. Cohen 油3 油 Not a lot of authors seem to do that. In this business, you have to do something to try to stand out. I had been looking back over some of the first stories that I wrote and felt that something was missing. I dont want to make it seem like ideas just happen, because there was a lot of work, a lot of nights spent thinking Am I doing the right thing? Why in the world did I ever try to write? Then I remembered one of the exercises I did in a college writing course that focused on setting. Once I gave my characters a strong, vibrant place to interact in, I knew I had something good. What did make you want to be a writer in the first place? Now, that is a much stranger story. Honestly, I never thought I would end up becoming a writer. When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. So, I started reading stories about Buzz Aldrin and other famous astronauts, then that moved me into sci-fi novels, and then I forgot about trying to do something and opted for writing about other people. There isnt really one thing that I can point to that made me say, This is why I want to be a writer. I have just always loved the stories that people tell and I wanted to be able to tell mine. So how did you get started then? All my life I had been interested in stories. Short stories in high school because they were short and classical mythology in collegeeveryone has to try something strange in college, dont they?
- 4. Cohen 油4 油 The power of stories, to me, is their ability to record what is going on socially at the time, whether the story is trying to or not. For example, I could write a love story about a guy from the city and a gal from the country, and even though Ive never known gals from the country, she will still deal with some of the same problems that I had internalized over the course of my life. Stories are ultimately all we have. My job as a writer is to arrange the 26 measly letters of the English language in a way that it conveys our story in the best way possible. And thats what I was trying to do with my book. Tell me about Sounds of Change. Where did the idea come from? The idea came when I was living in Colorado, believe it or not. My wife and I had lived there for a couple of yearsshe is also from Minnesota, not the cities, though. Anyway, we had been living in Colorado for a while and we both just got this feeling that we wanted to come home, back to Minnesota. I dont think this happens anywhere else, and frankly, I dont know why it happens here, but it does. So with my book, I wanted to combine some of the things I had been thinking about at the timethe society that I was a part of and a homecoming story, but I also wanted to give the cities a chance to shine. I had noticed that, conventionally and even in my stories, Minnesota is an entire state of snow and farmers. Nothing ever happens in the cities of Minnesota. I wanted to change that.
- 5. Cohen 油5 油 So how much of the story did you take from your life? Well, I wouldnt call it autobiographical by any means, but out of all my novels, my life influenced this one the most. Its difficult not to let aspects of your life in if you know a place as well as I know the Twin Cities. Anything in particular? Ill tell you a secret. One of the scenes in the book came 100% directly from my life. I wont tell you which, but it involves a park, baseballs, a can of gasoline, and a firetruck. I had never written that scene before and it was great fun to relive that moment of my life. It was even more fun to see it published. Last question: Who is your favorite author right now? I would have to say Salman Rushdie. His sentences are amazing. I greatly admire the way he uses words and I hope to one day have such a mastery of the language as he does.