Author Interview ~ Bob Mitchell

Bob Mitchell is the author of three nonfiction books about sports: The Heart Has Its Reasons: Reflections on Sports and Life, The Tao of Sports, and How My Mother Accidentally Tossed Out My Entire Baseball-Card Collection (and Other Sports Stories).
Mitchell studied at Williams (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude), Columbia (M.A. in French Literature, Woodrow Wilson fellow), and Harvard (Ph.D. in French and Comparative Literature). He spent a year teaching in France on a Fulbright fellowship and was a French professor for eleven years at Harvard, Purdue, and Ohio State, during which time he published four books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century French poetry.






Your novel, Match Made in Heaven, has an unusual premise. Can you tell us about it and what inspired it?

Certainly. In both my novels I try to tell a story that’s never been told before, that doesn’t fit into any literary category, that is different, unusual, startling. Match Made in Heaven is such a concept. It’s about a fifty-year-old Harvard professor (Elliott Goodman) who is being rushed to the OR as he’s having a massive heart attack. He pleads for his life to be saved, and, as luck would have it, God appears on the OR ceiling (dressed in a burgundy golf shirt and tan dockers) and asks Elliott why He should save him.

When the Almighty receives no meaningful reply, He gives Elliott one chance at salvation, challenging him to an 18-hole golf match. Elliott discovers that in His wisdom, God will send down eighteen substitutes, one per hole, to play against him. So, with his life at stake, he ends up playing against eighteen fabulous characters from history: Leonardo da Vinci, W.C. Fields, Moses, John Lennon, Freud, Poe, Socrates…well, you get the picture.

The novel is all about the life lessons Elliott learns from these amazing characters and from the amazing game of golf. At a deeper level, it’s really about why a human life is worth saving and what is so precious about human existence here on earth. The inspiration behind the story is, of course, the old apothegm, “write about what you know about.”

And the three major themes running through my life have been 1. a mad passion for sports, 2. a mad passion for knowledge (I’ve been studying and teaching history, literature, art, music, philosophy, etc. for most of my adult life), and 3. (sadly) a history of heart disease (I’ve had five heart surgeries). These themes have been incubating for over fifty years and finally converged in the conception of this book.

The admixture of these very disparate but intensely passionate parts of my life make me, I think, “uniquely qualified” to write such a book. And, in the final analysis, I think that these two powerful criteria —coming up with a unique, fascinating story and being the only person on the planet who is qualified to write it—are the sine qua nons for writing a compelling and distinctive novel.


What feedback have you received, negative or positive, regarding your portrayal of God or the overall theme of the book?

I have received no negative feedback. There will no doubt be some at some point, and I must say that it doesn’t concern me in the least. I write mainly for myself, and I value the opinions of my wife and my close friends and my publishing team and people I respect and admire. And so far, these people have unanimously agreed that the concept of the book is unique and compelling. Which I knew in my gut from the start, but it’s always nice to hear it from those you respect.

As far as my “portrayal of God goes,” I don’t feel that I portray God at all. He’s a character in the book who appears briefly in the beginning and the end, and he’s the vehicle who allows the golf match to occur in the first place. I guess I do describe him with a wink in my eye (yet respectfully), but it was not my intention to get into his character or deeper nature.


What would you say is the predominant message the reader will glean from reading Match Made in Heaven?

More than glean! The reader will clearly take away a bunch of valuable things from reading the book. Mostly, that life is indeed worth living, that each one of our lives is rich and full and worthy of being lived if we just look inside ourselves. There are so many lovely things about human beings that emerge from playing the game of golf (which is the ultimate sporting metaphor for life), and much to be learned. Mostly that ya gotta have heart.

It is a book about the triumph of the spirit when it is “up against it.” It is about courage and resilience and limits and humility and joy and a lot more. And that’s why not only people who are nuts about golf will enjoy it, but also people who aren’t especially interested in the game. That’s what is so satisfying, for me. I’ve in fact converted a number of people who “detest golf” (their own words), yet who have really loved the book. Go figure.

What made you decide to write the characters using unusual dialogue choices, like God saying, “Ciao!”, or Leonardo da Vinci, “Bingo!” etc.?

Once again, I think when you write fiction, you have an obligation not to use clichés but to describe people and things in your own, “new” language, like no one else before you.

(Btw, that is why I think that the issue of plagiarism in fiction writing is so
disgustingly repellent. Not just because it is a morally reprehensible act,
but because it goes against the very reason why one writes fiction—to be
creative and different, to describe and express the world in a uniquely personal
way that changes the way people see it, i.e., in the ordinary and expected
way. But I digress….)

In this case—and to answer your question—I wanted to describe the characters in the book, including the Almighty, in a way that would be both consistent with what I know about them, historically and from their writing or creations, and also in an idiosyncratic way that would make them entertaining and distinctive. (Besides being serious, this book is great fun!) Ergo, God says “Ciao!” and Leonardo speaks with a sprightly tongue and Moses has a New York accent and Freud is cranky and Joan of Arc curses in peasant French and Picasso lisps and Beethoven expresses himself in musical notes (being deaf) and Shakespeare (and Elliott, in that chapter) speak in iambic pentameter and Babe Ruth is continuously burping and Ben Hogan doesn’t speak at all.

This “quirkiness” gives the book, I think, a wonderful vivacity and humor that, hopefully, will make the reader want to turn the pages to hear and see more.

You have a juicy endorsement from James Patterson on the cover. How did that come about?

Blurbs are very tough to get. Many of the blurbs I was able to get for the back cover came as a result of networking and lots of hard work (plus, if I may say so, a great product!). Some came from people like former Senator Bill Bradley and sportscaster Bob Costas, who have both read and liked a number of previous books I have written.

In the case of Patterson, it happens that we were writer colleagues years ago at a major New York advertising agency. I had fond memories and thought I’d contact him. He’s also a golf nut and a very bright man, and I thought that the combination of the cultural subject matter and the golf would appeal to him. Obviously it did, and he was good enough to write me a superb blurb for the front cover. Proving that you never know what will happen if you don’t try.

Where did you learn to write fiction?

I didn’t. Maybe I differ with a lot of writers on this, but (for me at least) I don’t think you can learn to write. Not really. I think you can improve yourself and learn things about the craft of writing. But for me, writing is a desperately personal and devastatingly difficult act, and to do it well, you have to have an extremely well-developed gut. By that, I mean an inner instinct or “voice” that tells you, unfailingly, that this is the right word and not that one. That this is the right rhythm, the right tone. I’ve never been to a writer’s conference. I don’t think this inner quality (which we all have but is better developed in some) is something you can “pick up” or learn.

In my case, I didn’t learn to write fiction; the instinct and the fire were always there. It took me sixty years to write my first novel (I just finished my second), but despite that fact, I have been writing fiction my entire life, in a sense, been incubating thoughts and ideas and words and feelings and my inner writer’s voice for a very long time. I’ve always had the instinct necessary to write in this form, but my life has never given me the luxury of working full-time on it until now.

So, to answer the question, where? I learned to write fiction inside of me, in my gut, which I trust completely and implicitly. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal (speaking of it in a purely religious sense) called this inner instinct coeur (“heart”), when he said (my translation) “The heart has its reasons that Reason doesn’t have a clue about.” For me, my coeur (literally and figuratively!) is the closest to God I can get. Not being a “religious” person, I am, however, deeply spiritual. And as far as writing is concerned, this inner instinct about the right thing to do is as close to a moral imperative as I can get my mind around. It is my version of a higher being, and, happily I think, it can be found right inside of me! It is what pushes me forward in my writing and makes it uniquely mine, and of that I am extremely proud.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication?

Ah. You know, I don’t generally think in terms of “mistakes” or negatives. When I make mistakes, they are for me simply ways to get to a positive. (Lao-tzu said it best in his Tao Te Ching: “Failure is an opportunity.”) In the case of Match Made in Heaven, though, I can honestly say that it went absolutely, well, as Linda Richman of SNL would say, “like buttah”! I was very lucky to have begun the process with an absolutely amazing agent, Joëlle Delbourgo, who championed the book from the very beginning. And then, she sold the book to an old friend and colleague of hers, Michaela Hamilton at Kensington, who is equally amazing as my editor. Both of these women have been dreams to work with—supportive, inclusive, positive, enthusiastic. The book, just out in early May, is already in its second printing, has been translated into five languages and counting, has terrific distribution, seems to be selling well… No, I can’t think of any mistakes in this case!

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

As it happens, I’m not a big fan of advice. In general, I trust my gut, my coeur (as I mentioned above), rather than listening to what others have to say. Why? Because it is my experience that matters in my writing, my instincts, my voice. Of course, I listen all the time, try to be receptive. But I just think that you can really make a mistake by listening to what others tell you what to do! But I feel compelled to answer your question anyway, so I will.

Probably the only advice I really treasure on writing (publishing is another matter, which I won’t get into now) is that of one of the great writers of all time, the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. In his book Letters to a Young Poet (I recommend this to all writers, despite what I said above!), Rilke tells the young poet Kappus the following, which I’ve always taken to heart (so to speak):

“This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must
I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings
out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse.”

Why do I think this is great advice? Because too many writers don’t appreciate how very difficult it is to write—NO!, not only don’t appreciate it, but don’t LOVE this very difficulty!

There’s a Latin aphorism I love, per aspera ad astra: “to the stars through adversity.” This is what writing is all about. You must love the process, the struggle. Too many writers write for the wrong reasons—money, fame, glitter, to see their name in print, whatever—instead of taking Rilke to heart: If you write, you have to be writing because you must write. Otherwise, you are in for a rude awakening!

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve heard?

Oh, most of what I hear isn’t really worth repeating here! I suppose anyone who tells you that you are writing for an audience, for a nameless, faceless crowd out there. For me, I write for myself, and everything after that will take care of itself. I don’t write to please anyone—not my wife or my agent or my editor or my readers. Of course, I love it when all of these people love what I do and support my efforts, but to be motivated to please anyone but your inner self is, to me, treachery. If you please yourself and your coeur, the love and approval (and sales!) will follow. To paraphrase Field of Dreams, “write it, and they will come!”

Is there a particularly difficult setback that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

Again, per aspera ad astra! I hope that whatever setbacks I have gone through were all learning experiences and not really setbacks. Remember: “Failure is an opportunity”! I guess the biggest “setback” of note, from which I learned a valuable lesson, is that before my present agent, I had another one, who was not good for me. Didn’t share my vision or my passion for writing. Didn’t have the right contacts. Und so weider…. I was with him for over a year (for another, nonfiction project), and I finally decided to find someone else.

When I (my wife, actually) revived Match Made in Heaven from a dusty shelf, I sent the two chapters I’d written to my new agent, Joëlle, and the rest is history. So my advice to writers, if they care to listen, is to not settle until they find an agent who shares their vision and their passion. (It also helps to have an agent who knows the business like the back of his/her hand, like Joëlle does: She was a very successful editor and publisher, on the other side of the publishing coin, for twenty-five years!)

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

As it happens, I don’t read much “popular” fiction. I received a wonderful liberal arts education (Williams, Columbia, Harvard) and learned to love the classics, and that is what I still read today. They are the best books ever written (hence, “classics”!). Among my favorites are Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Proust’s epic, A la recherche du temps perdu, and anything by Shakespeare or Dickens. As far as poetry goes, I love Dante, Mallarmé, Valéry, Rilke, Neruda, Dylan Thomas, Wallace Stevens, and Hart Crane, among many others.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

Actually, both novels I’ve written: Match Made in Heaven and my new one, The Secrets of Solomon Stein. For many reasons, but chiefly because I think I have created, in both cases, books that are very different, in concept and plot and style, from anything else ever done in the history of writing. And I hope to continue to do this in future novels.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

No, not really. Although I am active in many of the “post-scriptural” activities (production, marketing, etc.), I try not to have “peeves.” Mostly because I know that publishing is a business, and a tough one, and I am not a business person per se (either by temperament or training) and whatever happens in that arena is out of my control, or in the control of my editor or publishing house or agent. Which makes me think of another great quote from the Tao Te Ching, one that I really love: “Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.” And anyway, for me, peeves suck out your energy, which you should be expending on your writing! So I concentrate on my writing, period, and leave the rest to the publishing pros.

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

Sure. Typically, I awake at around 2-3AM. I grind my coffee beans the night before, so I don’t wake up my wife. I sip my coffee slowly and work at my laptop, or, longhand, with my various pens and writing pads, until about 8AM. A lot of this time I am either writing or, more important, incubating. Plot ideas, structure, scenes, dialogue, character development... Not to sound Zen, but for me, the act of nonwriting is maybe even more important than the actual act of writing. Then breakfast and conversation and reading the paper with my wife, Susan, until about 10AM. Then, I write from 10AM to 5PM, with a bunch of breaks, including three walks with my two Labrador retrievers (Koslo and _Mocha), situps, rollerblading, and maybe twice a week various errands in town. By 5PM, I will have been engaged in the act of writing for roughly ten hours, and by this time, my brain is fried.

This is the perfect time to pour myself a nice Balvenie single-malt Scotch (four ice cubes, splash of soda—well, you asked!), sit on my bed with the pages I have written that day on my lap, watch the news or a game on TV, and edit. I do all my editing at the end of the day, never while I am writing. It is a different discipline, which can impede the creative process. I find I can do it well while relaxing after the struggle of cogitating and writing is done. Then dinner with my wife, etc., etc. Go to sleep around 10PM, then start all over again at 2-3AM the next day…

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

Probably Dickens, who could create idiosyncratic, unforgettable characters like no one else, before or since. Mind you , I do not covet or try to emulate! But I do admire and love Dickens so much and appreciate his enormous talent in this particular area.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

No. Well, I just hope to be able to continue writing, to continue to love the entire process of struggle, incubation, cogitation, struggle, creation. It is absolutely awesome. I have accomplished everything in loving this incredible act, and, as I said earlier, after that, things will take care of themselves. I think it is a mistake to want to “accomplish” anything. What? Have a bestseller? Write the Great American Novel? Make lots of money? No, I am doing what I love to do, and that is the only thing I can control.

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

Never, never, never, never, never. Quit doing something I adore? Writing is an end in itself for me, so why quit something that gives me such incredible pleasure and meaning for my life? That makes me happy—eager!—to get up every morning? Now, that doesn’t make sense, does it?

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

I’ll take this in reverse order. I have no least favorite part. Believe it or not, I love it all, and that, for me, is the absolute key (that’s the “favorite part” part). If you don’t love the “least favorite” parts, then you don’t love the process. If you don’t love the frustrations and the setbacks and the failures and the rejections, then you don’t understand the magic. You’ve got to love it, warts and all, because it is that difficult! So I see writing as all positive, all growth and learning and joy.

How much marketing do you do? Any advice in this area?

I have been very active in marketing the book, and my editor has, happily, encouraged me to be proactive in this vital area. From seeking blurbs to doing signings and readings to hiring and working with publicists to doing interviews and feature articles to looking into film opportunities to consulting with the director on the making of the audiotape to creating a website (www.bobmitchellbooks.com), I have been encouraged to become involved in all of these necessary acts of love.

Advice? Again, this is a very personal matter, but I’d only say that you should do everything in your power to get the issue of your love, the product of your passion, the offspring of your suffering…out there. Many writers tend to be shy and unaggressive, I guess, but (I am putting aside my Rilke cap and donning my Edward G. Robinson one now) publishing is a business, y’see, yeah, and ya gotta be aggressive, baby, ya gotta get out there an’ fight an’ scrap an’ claw, y’see, yeah…

Parting words?

For the first time in my life, I am speechless! No, just kidding. Not to repeat myself, but writing, like many other things in life, is all about passion. If you don’t have it, then it is far too difficult an enterprise to take up and be serious about. Without this passion, this love for language, for self-_expression, it is just all pain and suffering, period, as an end instead of a means. It’s funny, but the word passion (like the word patience!) comes from the Greek pathein and the Latin pati, “to suffer.” (Ya gotta love it!) I rest my case.