Friday feature: J. Adams Oaks on "Why I Fight"

May 14, 7:55 PMChicago Literary Scene ExaminerRobert Duffer

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In bookstores end of April '09

One story goes a long way for writer J. Adams Oaks. When the Logan Square bartender was finishing up his MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago, his story "Ash Butterflies" was published in the student anthology. Then it won the National Society of Arts and Letters regional competition, an Illinois Council Fellowship Award, a book deal with Simon and Schuster, and a chance to work with esteemed editor and publisher Richard Jackson, who introduced Judy Blume to generations of readers. Oaks, who serves fine wine at a French bistro, teaches at U of C, and is part of the story develoment team for the Serendipity Theater Collective, should find similar listeners for Wyatt, the displaced narrator of his debut novel, Why I Fight, (which came out at the end of April 09).

EX:  "Ash Butterflies" is the inciting incident that leads to Wyatt's life on the road with Uncle Spade. But it doesn't come until much later in the narrative. Discuss the genesis of the book, why you needed to tell it, how it started to how it got published.

JAO: That short story was the first chapter of the novel until my amazing editor, Richard Jackson, got a hold if it. The novel is in first person and is pretty intimate and immediate, and Richard asked me if I were to meet someone for the first time and begin to explain my life would I start out with the most private. Well, the answer was no. It worked in the short story, but not in the structure of the book. It's funny because "Ash Butterflies" won the National Society of Arts and Letters regional competition, and the more I spoke to people at their convention about my piece the more I realized I really wanted to know more about the characters. I started listening to them, asking them questions. Somebody like Wyatt, so lonely and frustrated, well, he just started talking like crazy. I feel like there is a huge difference between what the writer can demand from certain material and what the material will demand of its writer. So through my final classes at Columbia, and then for the following couple years, I listened. Though I didn't want to write about fighting-- I'd had no experience in it-- that is what the story demanded of me, so it stretched into what it needed to be.

EX:  It's a "YA" book, targeted for readers 12 and up. I know all YA writers hate this question, but at what point did the material appear to be YA to you?

JAO: Actually, I think my book is geared toward 14 year olds and up, but so many youth are so lit-savy and worldly these days, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't jump into Wyatt's crazy world and get it. I have a funny story about my book being YA... When, after four years of searching, I was lucky enough to have literary agent, Barbara Markowitz, agree to take me on. She said she'd like me to do a structural reworking of the book before she'd send it out, and she'd like to represent it as Young Adult. Well, my nose shot up in the air, and I told all my friends I'd written grand literature not something for snot-nosed punks. All of my friends told me to shut up because I had an agent willing to represent me. In the meantime, my agent suggested she send it to a colleague of hers at Simon and Schuster who was well respected and retiring, and if he thought the book was YA, could she then push it as that? Well, that colleague was none other than Mr. Richard Jackson with his own imprint and an amazing list of work to his name. Mr. Jackson responded by saying, "Yes, it is YA," and he took it on!

BUT I also went out there and looked at what had happened to YA since I was a kid and I was blown away. I'd think you couldn't say a swear word in a book, much less talk about s-e-x or anything else. Instead, I found books that I wanted to read as an adult. So, to answer your question, I never wrote this book with a YA reader in mind. I wrote it with a reader who was willing to listen, and that I think is going to be young adults.

EX: Wyatt has an aversion to cuss words, hears anger in CAPS, and doesn't use quotation marks: what stylistically was changed/adapted-if any--to the YA demographic?

JAO: You know, there were only two times I remember Richard Jackson mentioning the needs of a YA audience specifically, though I'm sure there were more. The first was an awareness of shorter chapters because young readers enjoy a sense of accomplishment as they read-- And I remember that feeling as a kid! I'd forgotten. I remember looking ahead to see what I had to go, but also looking back to see what I'd gotten through. So I was totally up for that. They also become good commuting chapters, where you can find a quick stopping place while you're heading to school or to work. And the second time Richard Jackson brought up the young reader was with the lack of quotations, which the book had had since it started as a short story. I'd always felt like Wyatt wasn't really quoting people to you, he was telling you the best he could remember, and sometimes, like with the swearing or the more embarrassing things, he wasn't telling the truth. Quotes seemed to be very serious, but no quotes could be hard to follow, so we compromised with the M-dash before dialogue. That was a compromise I was willing to make, you know? Clarity in writing is a good thing, right?

EX: You're a funny guy. Wyatt is more peeved than funny. He's limited as a narrator by age, experience, and what other characters call his "slowness", though he's more confused than slow. What challenges did you encounter maintaining Wyatt's voice throughout? How often did you feel limited, as a writer, by Wyatt?

JAO: Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, I can only hope Wyatt can enjoy a sense of humor when he's older. Poor guy has a little too much hardship to be joking around. You know, I fought this long and hard, because I really believed in Wyatt's immediate up-close voice. It wasn't the easiest choice to make, but Wyatt's story had to be told by him, through him. There were certain words I KNEW would be clearer, but he just didn't have the vocabulary. And there were sentences I wrote that made blossoms turn toward the sun, but he just wouldn't notice. BUT what Wyatt DID have was amazing: the benefits to perspective outweighed his challenges; his sincerity, his openness, his willingness. There were days when I was deep in the writing where I could hear him talking. I let him say what he needed to, I had to respect him for whatever he could give me and not judge him for the little flaws in his developing personality.

EX: What peeves you as a bartender that reminds you of Wyatt?

JAO: Ha! I love this question! You know, the older I get the more I respect people's bravery to admit ignorance and embrace the chance to learn. Like with the guy who comes to my little French bar and says, "My girlfriend and I know nothing about French wine, but we'd love to learn something. What can you tell us about this grenache?" I think that's a Wyatt trait, something that might let him go far, is not pretending he's more than what he is. The thing that peeves me is the opposite: The dudes who try to order James Bond's cocktail because they heard it's rad or the trixy who uses her freshman level French to order a cocktail so she can show off her accent. Ugh. 'Nough said.

EX: What are you working on now? What are some upcoming events?

JAO: I'm trying to wrap up a bunch of short stories I've had on the back burners. I always try to have a bunch of pieces going, but I do have another novel in the works. YAY! And I think it just might be YA again. I'm very excited. In the meantime, I'm lucky enough to read around Chicago all the time (and occasionally in Wisconsin), so you're best bet is to check out www.jadamsoaks.com for my updates.

NEXT READING: June 6, at the Barnes and Noble in Madison, WI.