Regarding stereotypes: surely I’m the only Asian guy who has never owned a cellphone…sigh. I’ve never texted before + clueless re Twitter. In The Choke Artist, you admit that you “felt depressed about my crappy academic standing, yet at the same time more frustrated than ever that everyone still assumed I was an academic genius because I was Asian.” Describe how you feel about stereotyping in 140 characters or less: His latest, The Odds, is that rarity: an engrossing, memorable short novel. When I feel overwhelmed by the seemingly un-climbable mountain in front of me, I think about how he’s already, in the same space of time, heading down the backside of it. Professional role model: Stewart O’Nan, who somehow manages to write a lasting, beautifully written novel every two years or so. I do read Deadspin and AV Club with regularity online, given that I’m an armchair athlete who has a verging-on-creepy reverence for really lame movies from the 80s.

Currently I’m working on a nonfic project tentatively titled CHASING THE SHIRT, a book about my ten years desperately trying to win a measly/pointless adult co-ed intramural soccer league championship.įavourite memoirs & essay collections: This Boy’s Life – Tobias Wolff, Me Talk Pretty One Day– David Sedarisįavourite magazines: I can’t afford to buy print magazines regularly–at this point I only allow myself this small luxury when I’m in an airport, in which case I usually buy Vanity Fair or something chunky that will a) last a while and b) make me smell like I’m going to my junior prom. Best Known For: The Choke Artist: Confessions of a Chronic Underachiever(2012), The Detention Club (2012)Ĭurrent Employment and Projects: I teach in the MFA creative writing program at Pine Manor College, and at the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

My Life in Black and White by Kim Izzo