Author Rebecca Makkai during an interview with Seth Meyers in 2018. Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Chicago author Rebecca Makkai’s new book “I Have Questions for You” isn’t just getting rave reviews, it’s also perched atop every bestseller list.
- Makkai’s new work of fiction deviates a bit from his hit “The Great Believers,” but that doesn’t stop people from swallowing it.
What they say : “The book won’t fit neatly into pre-existing categories, which will make some readers happy and annoy others,” Makkai told Axios.
Zoom out: The new novel is her fourth and she has also written collections of short stories, which has helped her in her writing process.
- “I don’t freak out about my own modus operandi: needing to think about a book for like a year before I start, letting it all be a big mess for a while, tearing it all up and restructuring it late in the game.”
- “Good to know that’s how I write, not a sign that my book is broken.”
There is nothing broken on Rebecca’s idea of a perfect day in Chicago.
🍞 Breakfast: “The brioche bread from Taste of Heaven on North Clark. I would order many other things to go with it, but that’s just window dressing.”
🧘 Morning activity: “If I’ve already been in Andersonville since breakfast, I’d probably walk around the neighborhood. We’re not talking about March, are we? It could be late June or early September? So I’d go to the market in ‘farmer, do retail therapy, then take a yoga class.’
🥗 Lunch: “I love writing in a cafe where I don’t feel rushed. But since I’ve decided it’s summer, let’s make it a rooftop. Somewhere with a really good chopped salad.”
🖼 Afternoon activity: “Take my kids to AIC (they only ever want to see the Thorne Rooms, but sometimes I can convince them to watch something else), then stop across the street at Exile in Bookville, in the building the fine Arts.”
🍽 Dinner: “I would organize a dinner. Since I live out of town and hate driving people around, I sometimes host dinner parties at restaurants.
- “Fiya (we’re back on North Clark!) was amazing at this, and since it’s a family style, you can pretty much order one of anything for the table. They have a bread and cheese boat filled with shakshuka. Ridiculously good.”
Evening activity:I mean… in my world, dinner lasts until you feel guilty for being the last table in the restaurant. The ideal scenario would be a limo that would take me home from dinner or to a hotel room with really good pillows.”