I’m a big fan of Cliff Garstang, the author and person: in addition to being a super prolific, gifted writer, he is an integral part of the literary community, helping raise awareness on behalf of his fellow scribblers. It was my great joy to participate in his author interview series via his site (visit and learn more about it, him, and his books, here). Here’s Cliff and I in conversation as part of the 14:55 Interview series and — teaser– Cliff will be once again featured in the 1455 Author Series, SOON (!).
Editor’s Note: This exchange is part of a series of brief interviews with emerging writers of recent or forthcoming books. If you enjoyed it, please visit other interviews in the I’ve Got Questions feature.
- What’s the title of your book? Fiction? Nonfiction? Poetry? Who is the publisher and what’s the publication date?
This Kind of Man, my first collection of short fiction, was published by Unsolicited Press on May 7, 2024.
- In a couple of sentences, what’s the book about?
This Kind of Man offers an unvarnished look at life in 21st-century America, excavating the complicated, tender, wild truth of what it is to be a man across generations and relationships. We see that our received notions of manhood and masculinity are inculcated—from the beginning and by design—to ensure willing participation in a system where the overwhelming majority are excluded from the start. We witness the way these dysfunctions are handed down like inheritance, and how every cliché, from fighting to drinking to intolerance of dissent and distrust of others, is a carefully constructed trap, preventing solidarity, empathy, and love (for others, for oneself).
- What’s the book’s genre (for fiction and nonfiction) or primary style (for poetry)?
Short story collection.
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has said about the book so far?
I was fortunate to receive some wonderful and generous blurbs. Louis Bayard, best-selling author of The Pale Blue Eye, writes“This Kind of Man, a suite of dramatic monologues and meditations, seems to pick up where Raymond Carver left off: anatomizing all the ways that American masculinity finds itself adrift, with a special thought for the women in the same lifeboat. Murphy sees how we live so plainly and clearly that, in the best possible way, it hurts.”
- What book or books is yours comparable to or a cross between? [Is your book like Moby Dick or maybe it’s more like Frankenstein meets Peter Pan?]
While I would hesitate to draw any flattering comparisons between myself and these two masters of the short story, I believe This Kind of Man is in the vein of both George Saunders and Tim O’Brien (thinking especially of In Persuasion Nation and The Things They Carried), as it seeks to take an unflinching look at people in crisis, describing the ways this world has pushed them to some type of breaking point. Several of these stories take place in so-called flyover states, so I feel obliged to send a loving shout out to the great Breece D’J Pancake, who wrote so indelibly about Appalachia.
- Why this book? Why now?
Glad you asked! Like anyone in America, I’ve read more than my fair share of increasingly urgent if equally unsatisfactory features about why everyone is so angry. A decade ago, many of these discussions would occur in classrooms and pubs, or at the proverbial workplace water cooler, but today, the internet allows the aggrieved to opine at top volume, social media keeping score in a game no one can win.
Somehow, despite these digital bullhorns, many people still claim to feel unheard, unacknowledged, or lost in the mass of info and entertainment overload. Too often, what passes for political discourse involves another lazy interview with some dude in a diner in the Midwest or else sneering Op-Eds from the same well-paid columnists. The media is neither able nor especially interested in telling these stories with any complexity or desire to expose the real rot: a system entirely stacked against all but the wealthiest and most connected members of our society.
So: no one seems satisfied, but why is it invariably men who make the most noise? There are too many reasons to count, but in 2024, it seems safe, if overdue, to suggest that traditional masculinity is a dying brand. This is at once inevitable and in almost all regards, a welcome development, but we need to better explore (and explain) who is feeling left behind, why (and how) they will make themselves heard if not with words (hint: actions, which tend to speak loudly and leave collateral damage in their wake).
- Other than writing this book, what’s the best job you’ve ever had?
I spent many years, before, during and after college, in the service industry. It not only was mostly rewarding (and remunerative) work, but I truly met a diverse cross-section of people, from the upper class to immigrants who routinely held two jobs and worked harder than any Americans I’ve seen. I learned a great deal, was constantly reminded how unbelievably fortunate and privileged I’ve been, and the individuals I encountered did—and do—inspire characters in my own writing. (I have to add, I lived through the dot.com boom and bust, and the antics on display informed my first novel Not To Mention a Nice Life.)
- What do you want readers to take away from the book?
If I’ve done my job, readers will come away from this book with more curiosity about people they may neither know nor understand, and perhaps cultivate some empathy for fellow Americans that are either overlooked or entirely dismissed in both newspapers and most fiction. I’m certainly not offering any apologies for any men who behave badly (quite the contrary), but I think the best way to initiate a more positive dialogue is to look at some of the causes of this anger and disenchantment (hint: it didn’t begin in 2016, and is unlikely to improve anytime soon).
- What food and/or music do you associate with the book?
Several people described in these stories confront the fact that, for a variety of reasons, their lives have become unmanageable due to their addictions. Opiates and other drugs make cameos, but bourbon and beer are the elixirs of choice. In my opinion, part of establishing a more positive discussion about the destructive cycles of silence and rage we see amongst certain men requires an interrogation of the ways alcohol is (always has been?) inextricably associated with almost every social activity in America.
- What book(s) are you reading currently?
One wonderful aspect of running a literary non-profit is having an endless supply of ARCs from amazing writers. I’ve had a busy semester, so I’ve let my to-do list get painfully long, but I am indescribably excited to jump in and get reading, just in time for summer!
