JS: So, what’s your new book about? And I gather you regard bell’s voice as credible because unlike some of these other screaming feminist scribes, Ms. hooks has much more of an Oracle feel about her? I wonder. Who ranks supreme in your upper-echelon list of male scribes?
PNR: Denicio Barbier – the new book – is loosely based on a woman I met in Arizona. I’d gone out there to write my first book, get away from the existential meaninglessness of Detroit, find myself, and eat good Mexican food. For shelter, I took lodge on a Native American reservation for free rent in exchange for a promise of early morning rising to make community coffee, tend to the elders, and herd the sheep until late afternoon. Afterwards, I’d write and explore the vastness of land. Once every two weeks I’d drive into town – a three hour drive – to get supplies, water, and mail letters to the outside world. Also, I would sometimes drive to Ahwataukee for a beer, chicken wings, and the Carvin Jones blues band. That’s where I met Denicio, an attractive sista with a Brooklyn accent, who told me she was from the Hamptons. I didn’t believe her because she didn’t seem polished like that, and she didn’t have educated or sophisticated diction. She was very urban, chic, and more believably situated in the lower class bracket of Brooklyn or Harlem rather than upper-crust Hamptons. I really didn’t care because she had a great figure, nice ass, pretty mouth and a sexy accent. So, over the course of the summer I’d make it a habit of meeting her at that bar, and eventually at her apartment. In short, she was the most dynamic, exotic, and mysterious woman I’ve ever met. So, she is the basis of my story. Later I met more Denicio’s, and I begin to think of women, in terms of the things that connect them. As for my favorite male writers, I’d say James Baldwin, Edgar Poe, Cornel West, Chinua Achebe, Woody Allen, and Capote….(click here to continue)
