Episode 134 Notes and Links to Kirstin Chen’s Work
On Episode 134 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Kirstin Chen, and the two discuss, among other topics, her childhood in Singapore and adolescent move to The United States, her relationship with reading and writing, especially in terms of “pleasure reading,” her research and process in writing two different but successful books before her current Counterfeit, the book’s success and celebrating that success, her skill with point-of-view, and salient themes in the book and their connections to her life and society.
K I R S T I N C H E N is the New York Times best-selling author of three novels. Her latest, Counterfeit, out now from William Morrow/HarperCollins (US) and The Borough Press (UK), is the June ’22 Reese’s Book Club pick. Television rights have been optioned by Sony Pictures.
Born and raised in Singapore, she lives in San Francisco. She teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and in Ashland University’s Low-Residency MFA Program.
Kirstin Chen's Website
Buy Kristin's Book Counterfeit
The New York Times Review of Counterfeit: "Real or Fake? In This Novel, It’s Not Just a Question of Handbags."
At about 1:30-Pete and Kirstin shout out The University of San Francisco and the great Christian Kiefer and talk about their connections
At about 2:30, Kirstin describes the experiences that have come with her book being picked as June’s Reese’s Book Club Pick, as well as her perspective during this heady time
At about 5:20, Kirstin discusses her background, growing up in Singapore, her relationship with language and literature, her interest in accents
At about 7:35, Kirstin talks about Singapore’s connections to the West
At about 8:55, Kirstin gives background on inspiration for some of the characteristics of Winnie from Counterfeit
At about 10:30, Pete wonders about Kirstin’s reading tastes as an adolescent and she further explains the connection between the disparate emphases in her various schools
At about 14:45, Kirstin talks about ideas of “representation” and exposure to local writing when she was a kid, as well as changing modes in 2022
At about 16:10, Kirstin details those texts and writers who thrilled her as a college student, including Mary Gaitskill, Carver, and Mona Simpson’s “Lawns”
At about 18:05, Kirstin describes the process of going from loving reading and writing to writing professionally and shares a cool Tobias Wolff story
At about 22:00, Kirstin talks about her love of fashion and how her early job at Banana Republic led to experiences that have made it into her writing; she also cites her own individual embrace of the MFA
At about 24:00, Kirstin discusses her early experiences with publishing Soy Sauce for Beginners
At about 26:15-28:35, Kirstin gives background on her second novel, Bury What We Cannot Take, especially homing in on the extensive research done for it
At about 28:50, Kirstin details her writing/rewriting process for Counterfeit during Covid and its placement post-2016 election
At about 31:20-33:10, Kirstin details the seeds for Counterfeit and how an offhand joke grew into a book
At about 33:20, Pete and Kirstin discuss the successful ways in which she plays with POV, a conscious choice to eliminate some quotation marks for purposes of framing narration in certain ways
At about 36:30, Pete compliments the book as “off-kilter,” and discusses the book’s two parts
At about 37:40, Kirstin breaks down the dynamics between Winnie and Ava and how their immigrant status as Asian-Americans informs their interactions
At about 39:20, Pete and Kirstin discuss Ava’s family and a well-drawn and hilarious scene involving preschool “tryouts”
At about 42:40, Pete and Kirstin trace the ways in which the two women come together and where they are emotionally at the time
At about 44:00, The plot is discussed, with special attention to the scam that domin
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