I spoke yesterday with Tom Perrotta, author of Mrs. Fletcher, after a memorial service for our mutual friend Mike Denneen. (https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/07/18/mike-denneen-whose-sharp-producing-instincts-guided-musicians-and-bands-dies/MqzJ8Dlgc3lQuZY3XhCX3I/story.html). Starting twenty years ago, Mike brought together young Boston area musicians and authors (like Tom Perrotta and Denis Lehane) in a reading/performance series called "Earful." These readings are now held annually at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown.
I told Tom that our book club had recently discussed Mrs. Fletcher and that, it seemed to me, our reaction was mixed on age/cultural lines (perhaps like reactions to Margo's presentation at the senior center). Tom was not surprised.
I asked Tom about his motivation for writing this novel, and he said he has always been interested in the evolving state of sexual politics, or where America "is" at any moment. He noted that although internet porn is completely unknown / shunned by some of our population, it is ubiquitous among an even larger portion of society including most youth. He was struck by how much porn has changed since we were kids and how it informs today's kids relations with dating and sex.
He had similar observations about gender politics and identity. Our children live with different concepts and pronouns, he said, and these are starting to bubble up in our society. In the novel, he tried to bring these themes to the surface. I told him about wild carpool conversations after my daughter's gender studies class at Wellesley High School this year...
The setting of Mrs. Fletcher was secondary to his aims but also autobiographical, as Tom's son had left for college a few years ago. Tom based the character of Brendan on a composite of his son's friends (Tom's son actually thought the treatment of Brendan was mild).
I commented that the arc of some of the characters seemed unfinished (Brendan becoming a plumber, Eve getting married again) and conventional. I asked him how this would change for the HBO series for which Tom is currently writing the screenplay. He said the TV series will be edgier by necessity, but he hasn't yet decided how the characters will end up. It seems that TV gives authors a chance to rethink or extend characters.
Finally, for those of you who won't recommend this book to your wives, he said his wife had some misgivings too. All in all though, he seemed happy with the novel and its reception.
