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Jess Walter followed a convoluted path into the literary mainstream: He was a newspaper reporter who became a nonfiction author who became a ghostwriter who became a mystery novelist who became a literary novelist who also writes screenplays. But no matter the genre, Walter's work is stamped with vivid watermarks-prose that blends rapid-fire rants with unerring rhythm, a dark humor that has been called "standup tragedy," an engagement with the political and social, and a devotion to storytelling. "The idea that plot is this ugly, brutish thing that we have to drape our beauty over is infuriating," he says, "because to me, plot is this beautiful, elegant shape."
His essays, short fiction, criticism, and journalism have appeared in Details, Playboy, Willow Springs, Newsweek, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and elsewhere. His nonfiction book, Every Knee Shall Bow, was a finalist for the pen Center West literary nonfiction award in 1996. His novel Citizen Vince won a 2006 Edgar Allan Poe award, and his following novel, The Zero, was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award.
We spoke with Walter over two meetings at Spokane's Davenport Hotel, which features prominently in The Land of the Blind. "It's taken me a long time," Walter said, "to arrive at a place where I feel like I'm doing the work I set out to do."