“I have no idea how to handle this new mode of living (I guess “living” is the word) in fiction. I probably spend more time e-mailing and reading online than I do having non-virtual human contact—and I bet I’m not that unusual. If my characters were like that, would their lives be eventful enough to write about? On the other hand, if I write about people for whom the internet is—as far as the reader can see—peripheral or nonexistent, am I not essentially writing historical fiction?”
— David Gates
PEN American has published an absolutely wonderful email exchange between Jonathan Lethem and David Gates in which they discuss reality, David Shields, the future of fiction, Facebook and Twitter, the importance of writing on a computer without an Internet connection, and lots more. (via Book Bench)
