DeepSummary
Aaron Lammer interviews Hua Hsu, a staff writer for The New Yorker, about his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir 'Stay True'. Hsu discusses how the book, which is set during his college years at UC Berkeley, gestated for over 20 years as he grappled with processing the tragic death of his close friend Ken in 1998. He explains how writing the book became a therapeutic process of recapturing memories and the feeling of that era through granular details.
Hsu delves into the challenges of reconstructing events from decades ago solely through the lens of memory and old journal entries, eschewing procedural research or fact-checking. He explores how reconstructing that period allowed him to metaphorically 'hang out' with his younger self and deceased friend again. The structure places Ken's death two-thirds through, letting readers experience their friendship first.
The conversation also touches on Hsu's approach to cultural criticism for The New Yorker, where he is drawn to examining the 'conditions' and contexts around how people experience art, music, and identity rather than evaluating aesthetic merits. He cites examples like profiling Randall Park's film adaptation of the graphic novel 'Shortcomings' and revisiting formative cultural moments.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Hua Hsu's memoir 'Stay True' developed organically over 20 years as he processed the tragic death of his close friend in college through recollected memories and old journals.
- The book purposefully avoids nostalgia, instead aiming to authentically capture the textures, rhythms and emotions of that era through granular details.
- Hsu was initially hesitant about profiling Randall Park for The New Yorker, but connected with Park's own navigation of artistic identity.
- As a cultural critic, Hsu is more interested in examining the contexts and conditions around how art is experienced rather than evaluating aesthetic merits.
- Shared memories and 'inside jokes' are crucial foundations for close friendships, underscoring Hsu's haunting by recollections of his deceased friend.
- Hsu views his journalistic work as developing skills like vivid description that served his memoir's intimate, memory-driven portrayal.
- The book's structure immerses readers in Hsu's friendship first before the tragic loss two-thirds through, allowing that bond to resonate.
- Hsu was fascinated exploring generational perspectives on the graphic novel 'Shortcomings' while profiling its film adaptation.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Even though it wasn't something that I was, like, trying to put out there. Like, this was not a book that I was going to pitch to every single person I met. ... It literally something that only made sense to me as soon as I finished it. And it sort of exists in a completely different universe than everything else I write.“ by Hua Hsu
- “I think at first I was like, all right, like, am I really, like, why do I have to do this? You know? But I found something about it that, like, really interested me. Like, I wasn't. I wasn't compelled to do it, but I think once I figured out that I was really interested in how he was negotiating these issues that, like, I was facing, too, because I was reporting this story while I was finishing my book. And so I was really interested in what it was like for Randall, who's kind of known for being one thing. You know, he's, like, affable, very good natured, you know, for him to not only become a director, but then sort of direct this project that people wouldn't necessarily associate with him.“ by Hua Hsu
- “I feel like so many of my friendships are the result of you and another person remembering the same thing and then that becoming like your inside Joe or some sort of part of your intimate lexicon. And so what really kind of haunted me all these years were just memories.“ by Hua Hsu
Entities
Company
Book
Person
Organization
Place
Burial
Service
Episode Information
Longform
Longform
5/10/23