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by eric steuer Neal Pollack is a lovely man. But don't just take our word for it; check out the fantastic photos below for proof. The author and front man of the lit-rock / funnycore act The Neal Pollack Invasion recently took some time out of his hectic schedule to chat with Lunchboxing about some very important and awesome things that you are interested in. Lunchboxing: What's new with you? Neal Pollack: Well, I have a short book of political satire out right now called Beneath the Axis of Evil: One Man's Journey into the Horrors of War, and I have a novel coming out in the fall. Lubo: What's the name of the novel? NP: Never Mind the Pollacks. It's a fictitious history of indie rock. Lubo: I saw that in the byline of your recent GQ article, but didn't know if it was a joke or not. NP: Nope. It's true! Lubo: In that case, I'm looking forward to reading your novel. NP: I can't wait to see what it looks like as a book, as opposed to a Microsoft Word file. Lubo: You're the first person I've ever met who has written for GQ. Are the editors there dicks? 
NP: Not the one I dealt with. There probably are some
dicks in the building, though. Men's magazines, in general, do not
attract the highest breed of ethical man. But all the editors I deal
with at men's magazines are, of course, saints and geniuses.Lubo: And well-dressed, I'd imagine. NP: Usually. Sometimes I feel like I'm wearing a potato sack when I go into the offices. You know, I have one nice shirt, a pair of black pants, maybe one nice sweater. Down here in Austin, people usually wear jeans and the same T-shirt everyday. Lubo: You live in Austin? I thought you were from Chicago. NP: I lived in Chicago for 10 years and recently moved down to Austin for some easy living. Lubo: Just in time for The Neal Pollack Invasion to play at South by Southwest. NP: Yes. We play Saturday, March 15, at 8pm. Lubo: What other bands are you going to check out at the festival? NP: I'm definitely going to see Pretty Girls Make Graves, Camper Van Beethoven, and Dillinger Four, who I've always wanted to see. And, of course, the Willie Nelson concert. Also, I hope the Epoxies get a showcase - I like them a lot. I'm into dumb rock bands with chick singers. Lubo: Rock chicks are cool. NP: Why else does music exist, right? In general, women are the best thing about rock right now, in every way. They play brilliantly, rock hard, and look great. Lubo: Have you bought any good records lately? NP: I bought the new Beck album, which I really like. I also thought Common's Electric Circus was cool. Better than the new Roots album. Lubo: What was your favorite book when you were 21? 
NP: Hmm. Probably Portnoy's Complaint by Philip
Roth. I was in the midst of a transition to Up in the Old Hotel
by Joseph Mitchell. Right now, it's Heed the Thunder by Jim
Thompson.Lubo: Ever seen the film version of Portnoy's Complaint? It stars Richard Benjamin, who also played the main character in Goodbye, Columbus. NP: I've never seen it. But the movie of Goodbye, Columbus is a great disaster of the '60s. Those opening credits - my god! Lubo: Have you ever written a screenplay? NP: No. But I have a couple of ideas and am talking to agents. I think I could do it. Lubo: It seems like it'd be easier to do than writing a novel. NP: I don't know. There are a lot of bad screenplays out there, and a lot of novelists have been crushed by Hollywood. That said, some novelists, like Jim Thompson and Terry Southern, simply excelled at the screenplay. If Matt Damon can do it, so can you! Lubo: What did you do before you were a famous writer? NP: I was a newspaper reporter. I worked for the Chicago Reader from 1993 to 2000, covering city politics and general-interest feature stories. It was lots of fun, and great training for fiction/humor writing. Lubo: Did you study journalism in school? NP: I did. I went to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Graduated in 1992. Lubo: Is it weird for you when people use words like "punk rock" to describe your writing? NP: I certainly never saw it coming, but it seems appropriate. From the beginning, I came at literature from an odd angle, a counter-corporate angle. And my stuff has gradually just become angrier and angrier, less and less reverent. So punk rock, whatever that means, seems to fit the bill. But that doesn't mean I have some goddamn cliched Pepsi Blue mohawk, and it doesn't mean I snowboard. I'm as square as they come. Lubo: Have you experienced any resentment from older writers because they can't identify with your outlook? NP: I've just started to, actually. I was on a panel at the Texas Book Festival with an older writer, and he just flipped at my attitude, called me a "disgrace to literature." But I think it's less about generations and more about attitude. I don't know if Allen Ginsberg would have liked my work, but how could he not appreciate the spirit in which I make it? That said, Lawrence Ferlinghetti once walked out of a reading I did in San Francisco. I was pretty proud of that. Even some of the younger writers, my "peers," find what I do a little off-putting. 
Lubo: Do you think that's because they perceive you as
being part of some sort of "cool kids" club for writers?NP: Yeah, but I think that the cool kids club is misunderstood. I don't care who I read with, as long as they're open-minded and willing to have fun. And I also don't think that writers like, say, Richard Price or Walter Mosley give a shit whether or not they're one of the cool kids. The pissed off ones are the young writers who didn't think of their gimmick first. Lubo: I guess there are some fine lines to walk when you're successful. NP: Honestly, I never know what's going to happen next, or how people are going to react. I just have to determine what the next boundary is, and step over it. The kind of McSweeney's stuff I was doing four years ago simply doesn't cut it anymore. These are angry and dangerous times. Back then, the world seemed awfully clever and cute. Lubo: How has your work changed? NP: Well, it's become more political, a little harder-edged, more pointed. And more narrative, as well - I wrote a novel, after all. Lubo: But it's still satirical. And not to use impertinent in a gross way, but its still that too. NP: Oh, yeah. The core is still there. But it's evolved, I think. Lubo: Consciously? NP: The satire is more relevant. I used to just make fun of dumb yuppies. Now I make fun of Christianity, Republicans, and the intersection between the two. We live in a sexually repressed world run by Jesus freaks. That wasn't the case five years ago. Lubo: Do you think the people you're making fun of mean well? NP: No, I don't. I think most political writers are elitist hypocrites with barely-concealed hidden agendas. On both the left and the right, but the right has more power, so they're a bigger target. 
Lubo: Do you think that their chief agenda is
self-promotion? Or is it preserving the prevailing paradigm?NP: I'm not exactly sure. There's this shuffling to be on the right side of history, whatever that means. As if anyone cares where Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens land. There's a "which side are you on?" mentality that frankly galls me. Lubo: Last question: are you a fan of reality TV? NP: Oh yes. Every time I think the formulas get tired, a new show comes along. I loved the first two seasons of Survivor, any season of The Amazing Race, and it's hard to argue with Joe Millionaire. Ixnay on the Bachelor series, though. Lubo: Joe Millionaire is amazing. So Foxerrific. NP: I agree. One gets the sense that these are the TV shows at the end of the world. It feels like Joe Millionaire is the natural end point of television. If TV ended forever on Monday, that would be OK. Lubo: The big rumor is that he actually is super rich, after all. NP: And that's the big secret - the joke's on us? Fuckers. Lubo: I actually think that would be the best way they could end that show. NP: Well, I'll be watching along with the rest of America. With the phone unplugged. (Note: This conversation took place about a week prior to the godawful finale of Joe Millionaire, in which the show's exciting "twist" turned out to be that the High Priest of Mildly-Handsome Clownliness and his do-gooder bumpkin womanchoice were each awarded half a million clams for "falling in love.") For more information about Neal Pollack, read this interview again - but more carefully this time. Or, check out his web-site, which is conveniently located at www.nealpollack.com. |
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