Today, author Jay Asher joins us for a discussion of his young adult novel, Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill, $16.99).
Thirteen Reasons Why is, in part, a cautionary tale, though it also combines elements of suspense and romance in telling the story of sixteen year old Hannah Baker, whose innermost thoughts are revealed as her classmate and crush Clay Jensen listens to a series of cassette tapes that she recorded before committing suicide. The tapes reveal the thirteen reasons why she took her life, and Clay is one of them. As he takes the journey with Hannah, he is forced to confront the harsh truths of her world—and of his own.
Originally released in October of 2007, strong word of mouth helped to make Thirteen Reasons Why a sleeper hit among teenagers across the nation, ultimately landing the book on The New York Times children’s chapter books best-seller list. Later re-released with a new Q&A with Asher, it continued to rise high into the charts.
On Wednesday night, Jay Asher will discuss and sign his book at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison at 7 PM. Event details can be found here.
Recently, the author was kind enough to give Hartford Books Examiner a glimpse into the creative process behind Thirteen Reasons Why.
1) In a culture that is dominated by vampires, wizards, and other fantastic creatures and concepts, your book is rooted in the reality of teen suicide. What do you attribute its success to?
The success can be attributed to a precise mathematical mix of plot elements and character traits that I developed with my publisher but am legally not allowed to reveal. (Tee-hee!) Actually, I love trying to figure out why certain books become hits while others, which may be just as good, have trouble finding an audience. All I know for sure is what I had in mind while writing my book. I wanted to deal as honestly as possible with some very serious issues, and I wanted to write an extremely suspenseful story. Something about that mix prompts a lot of readers to tell other people about the book.
2) Your book deals with dark themes and depicts scenes of sexual coercion and teenage betrayal head on. What inspired you to write such a story? Did you find your subject matter to be a help or a hindrance when trying to sell the book?
A close relative of mine attempted suicide when she was a junior in high school, just like Hannah. Over the years, she and I discussed her frame of mind at the time she decided to take her life. When I combined that with the unusual format of the book, I knew it would allow me to discuss some serious issues in a compelling way. As far as I know, the subject matter was never an issue in selling the book.
3) A major theme of the book seems to be that one can never fully understand the implications of his/her words or actions on others until it's too late--that what is done cannot be undone. Was this the message you were trying to get across to your readers?
That's it. And the reason we can never fully understand the implications is because we can never fully know what's going on in anyone's life but our own. Everyone will react a little differently to every situation, often because of past experiences. So it's important to at least try to treat each other with respect. The Golden Rule will always be good advice!
4) You essentially bring Hannah back to life by giving her a very distinct voice through the cassette tapes that she leaves behind. Why did you choose such an unconventional method? How did you discover her inner-self (and her thirteen reasons why)?
I stayed with cassette tapes rather than a contemporary form of recording because something more modern would seem dated within a couple years. That sounds weird, I know. But cassette tapes will always be old fashioned, so if the characters in my book acknowledge them as being outdated, it makes the book up-to-date. As far as discovering Hannah's voice, her character came to me fully formed. I didn't have to work hard at all to understand her. To come up with her reasons, I spoke with a lot of my female friends and my wife about things they experienced in high school. Rather than recreating what they told me, I took the emotions they spoke about and created scenes around those.
5) How did your own experiences as a teenager influenced the creation of Clay Jensen's character?
I was a lot like Clay in high school. If I saw someone being disrespectful to someone else, I stayed out of it. It wasn't my business! There are still certain scenarios where I wish I could go back and say something. In that area, Clay goes through a much steeper learning curve than I went through.
6) You are also a musician. Do you find that there is a similar rhythm to making music as there is to writing? How else does music influence your story-telling?
For me, in an odd way, there is a similarity between making music and writing. See, I'm not a very good musician. I recently finished playing guitar on a c.d. of my wife's music, but I often had trouble playing ten notes in a row without making a mistake. Thankfully, we were in a nice studio. We were able to take five good notes from verse one and five good notes from verse two and paste them together. So basically, I'm great at editing! While writing Thirteen Reasons Why, I listened to the My So-Called Life soundtrack quite a bit. That show, and the soundtrack, had a certain atmosphere I was hoping to mirror. For the last scene in the book, I played "Larry" by Buffalo Tom over and over. The lyrics and the tone put me in the perfect mood.
7) You have worked in a number of bookstores and libraries. How have those experiences influenced your instincts as a writer?
I began writing this book while working part-time as an assistant children's librarian and part-time at an indie bookstore. Every day, teens would tell me about books they recently read and liked. More importantly, they told me about books they didn't like. Anything that felt phony or preachy got an immediate thumbs-down. Phony and preachy -- the twin P-words which should scare all writers into being as honest as possible. Whenever I felt my message was overshadowing my story, I knew I needed to scale back.
8) As much as THIRTEEN REASONS WHY reads as a cautionary tale, it also has elements of suspense and romance. Did those ideas interweave naturally or was it a conscious effort to cross genres?
The idea for the book came as a suspense story, so that's what I focused on. I knew the cautionary tale would be there naturally because of the premise. The romance wasn't something I expected until I needed to figure out why Clay was on the tapes. Clay is the eyes and ears of the reader as he listens to Hannah's story. Everything is filtered through him. So his backstory needed to be something that wouldn't make the reader feel sick when they finally heard his tape.
9) The reader response to the book has been outstanding. Is there any one story that stands out among the rest? And do you ever feel a heightened sense of responsibility to your readers due to the subject matter you explore?
These "pick one" questions are so difficult! One e-mail I received, just before Christmas, was from a boy who recently tried to kill himself. While he was in the hospital recovering, all he kept thinking about was ways to try again...but not fail. Then he read Thirteen Reasons Why and decided suicide was not an option for him anymore. I got a lot of great Christmas presents that year, but that was the best! As a writer, my only responsibility is to tell a compelling story. But because I knew so many of my readers would have dealt with the issues in my book, I felt a responsibility to deal with those issues respectfully and honestly. As a way of giving back, I speak at suicide prevention forums when I can and I encourage groups who use Thirteen Reasons Why in book club discussions to ask a crisis hotline worker or a teen psychologist to join them and make their meeting a proactive event.
10) What can you tell us about your next project?
It's coming along!
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For those wishing to attend Asher’s event at R.J. Julia, reservations can be made by calling 203-245-3959. Tickets are $5.00, the price of which can be applied to the purchase of the book. If you are unable to attend, you can still purchase a signed copy by clicking here.
With deep gratitude to Jay Asher for taking the time to reveal his world to us…
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