American author Mark Z. Danielewski wrote his first novel at the age of 10 on a manual type writer. He was born into a family of liberals, with a father working as a theater professor and his mother as a professional artist. Still, his parents were quite surprised to have read their young boy’s story with such grotesque subject matter. “They were expecting a fantasy story. But I wrote a novel about a young kid who became a cocaine addict and goes to prison. I considered that one my blessings, I knew very early I was going to be a writer,” he shared over tea at the Writer’s Bar in the Raffles Hotel in Makati. Mark, continued his journey into a life in literature, graduating with a degree in English Literature from Yale, before releasing his highly acclaimed debut novel House of Leaves in 2000.
Collecting Global Insights
Born in New York City to Tad Danielewski and Priscilla Decatur Machold, Mark garnered an appreciation of culture at a young age. His father, an avant-garde film director had film projects around the world, bringing the young child to reside in Switzerland, Spain and India before the age of 10. His father was also a teacher at the acclaimed Actor’s Studio during the 1950s. Mark remembers him telling stories about Oscar winning actors such as Karl Malden, Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau, who began their careers under his tutelage. Finding his love for writing at such as a young age, he kept his mind open to discovering new things. His sister Poe became a singer and record producer, and his family established final residency when his father took on the job as the head of the theater department at the University of California.
Mark officially started his career after graduating from college. He began writing essays and realized that language can be used in a very cinematic style, a trademark that would soon be evident in his novels. In 1993, the first concept of his debut novel would begin to manifest inside his mind. “I had an idea of this house that was bigger in the inside than the outside. I thought it would be a foot note or a poem, but months later I realized it was the concept that can house all of us figuratively or literally. I wanted to write about a young man who will discover the family living at this house.” Mark’s philosophic thoughts (which would later bloom into a postmodernist mindset) became the outline of his debut novel, House of Leaves.
A Cult Classic
Now regarded as a cult classic to many literary fans, Danielewsiki’s House of Leaves was well acclaimed during its initial release by Pantheon books back at the start of the new millennium. Winning the Public Library’s Young Lions Fictions Award, the avant-garde narrative captured the hearts of many a curious soul. It tells the story of a young man named Johnny Truant, a tattoo artist who finds a trunk of notes in his newly purchased apartment previously owned by a deceased man named Zampano. Included in those notes is a transcript of an academic study of a documentary film entitled The Navidson Record. Danielewski, then dives deeper into the narrative, creating a story of interconnecting webs of Truant’s life, his mother, Zampano’s notes, and the makers, editors and interviewees of documentary.
The novel is tied together like a series of notes, footnotes and letters—as if the reader too had stumbled upon this curious treasure. It is written in the form of ergodic literature, where readers must take the effort to dissect and discover the text. Each of the novel’s narrators are set apart through a specific text font and writing style. The author himself admits that tackling his novels are not an easy feat, “However, as many read it, they will discover how to bend your mind and let go of your convictions. You begin to realize, a different kind of experience, a more expansive experience while wrestling with your own queasiness.”
A Familiar Face in a Cat T-Shirt
Mark is often spotted sporting his signature fedora and cat t-shirt. This look came about as a way to characterize himself, allowing people to recognize him instantly. “It became a way that reinforces my commitment as a writer,” he shared, claiming that this uniform makes him feel like a novelist—literally speaking, he’s wearing his writer’s hat. It has become quite organic for him to dress this way. When Mark wants to be incognito, he simple dresses a different way.
Currently penning his new series entitled The Familiar, Mark is up at 5:20 AM each morning for yoga and a healthy breakfast. He then proceeds to writing the entire day. Currently on the 5th volume The Familiar (set to be released on October 31, 2017), it is part of a 27 volume collection of stories. His first novel, The Familiar, Vol 1: One Rainy Day in May, is set in a singular day in Los Angeles before a torrential rain. Featuring many, interconnected stories set in different parts around the globe, Mark admits that his collection will read like a television show, with each novel being a different season.
“The larger proposition of The Familiar is to embark upon a journey to finish it. Readers and author are together in this journey and to have a dialogue. Those five first volumes are shorter than House of Leaves. Those books take a total of 12 hours to read. I’m not asking for two hours of your day, but two hours a month and you’ll be part of this experience.”
Writing Through the Hard Times
Although an admirer of many classical writers, Mark has found fandom in the work of post war American novelists like Walker Percy and Toni Morrison. A postmodernist writer himself (and somewhat an honorary philosopher), he loves when authors “wrestle with big ideas.” The New Yorker also believes that authors need constant exposure to other forms of literature to inspire and improve themselves. “I was once involved in a panel discussion, and someone asked another author what they read while they write. He said he didn’t like reading things that influenced him. I object! You need to read something that’s powerful. If you’re scared that you’ll get influenced by this author, then something it wrong…Can you know it all? Absolutely not. But there needs to be constant exposure.”
When speaking to Mark, you can hear a clear love for his craft. The author is coy and cool about his opinions, although he never shoots down others. Like his books, he believes that it’s up to an individual to interpret life the way they want it. If there’s one thing he feels strongly about, it is that young artists should always pursue their dreams. “I was penniless for most of House of Leaves,” shared the National Book Award nominee, “write what you love, because it will hold you through the hard times. And hold others through the hard times too.”
House of Leaves, The Familiar series and other novels by Mark Z. Danielewski is available at National Bookstores nationwide.
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Text by Chino R. Hernandez
Photography by Emman Montalvan
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