An interview with Robin Caine, author of Loving Hirsute.

Fringe: What was the inspiration for this piece?

Caine: About ten years ago, I was living in a small studio on W. 4th St. with a writer friend of mine. Working as “writers,” it was difficult to keep the overpriced studio (which was only about 400 square feet), and I guess I started to feel a little bit angry that it was so hard to live in New York.  Also, it was something of a challenge to live with my friend; he did have a penchant for Pop Tarts and chain smoking. This year, after I saw so many of my friends lose their jobs, I re-wrote the story to reflect their frustrations. No one is living in a cardboard box, thankfully.

Fringe: How often do you write? Do you do it on a schedule?

Caine: I try to write every day. I think one of my problems is that I am always thinking about writing. I used to worry that thinking about writing interfered with experiencing life and relishing the moment. But lately I tend to worry that thinking about writing is just interfering with writing…

Fringe: How did you get into writing? How long have you been writing?

Caine: I have always been writing. The question is, why (why…) didn’t I stop…

Fringe: Is this piece typical of your work?

Caine: I’m not sure…it’s kind of a weird little story.

Fringe: Is Fringe your first publication?

Caine: No, but it’s my first publication in a journal with the mantra, “…to fight against the homogenization of culture, its resulting complacency, and the loss of revolutionary literature at the high-literary and popular levels.”  Wow!

Fringe: What do you like to read? Who are your influences?

Caine: I am finishing my MFA, and right now I am reading a lot of nonfiction for a nonfiction workshop. But fiction-wise, I like to read Don DeLillo, Flannery O’Connor, Nathaneal West, Haruki Murakami, Ralph Ellison, Djuna Barnes, Raymond Carver, George Saunders, J.D. Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, and the list goes on. They have all influenced me to want to become a better writer.

Fringe: What do you hope the reader gets out of this piece?

Caine: I hope it makes them laugh. Laugh about the unfortunate economy, or maybe about the irony of living in Manhattan (everything is at your fingertips, and everything is at your fingertips). I think it is also a story about loving someone through hard times, even when his choices become suspect.

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