Good books ignite imagination, author of 'Snow in August' says

Patti Thorn, News Books Editor

Saturday, April 27, 2002

Pete Hamill has never met Gov. Bill Owens. But ever since Owens recommended Coloradans read Hamill's book, the author has had warm feelings for the man.

"He's now my favorite governor in the whole United States," Hamill said with a chuckle, then added: "I hope he's not under indictment, or something like that."

You have to wonder: Would it matter? In a world where 60,000 new books compete for attention every year, even a mention by a tainted politician would be worth its weight in sales slips.

HAMILL'S CHOICE? What book would Pete Hamill recommend if he had to pick only one? "If it were the desert island question, I'd pick Arabian Nights or Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio. They're like open books. You could end up making your own stories (after reading them), they're so rich." In addition: "Dickens' Bleak House is just a spectacular novel. He's so shameless. At one point in the novel he has a guy explode; he just spontaneously combusts. It sort of makes you believe it could happen."

Hamill's novel, Snow in August (Little, Brown), recently stepped into the spotlight after KHOW radio personality Peter Boyles named it the focus of a reading program he has dubbed One State, One Book. Modeled after programs in other cities, One State invites Coloradans to read one book at the same time and discuss it with each other.

"I was obviously delighted," said Hamill of the news that his book had been picked. "Who would not be? . . . Anybody who writes a book would like it to have the longest possible life, especially today when books come and go in a week and a half."

Hamill was speaking by phone from New York. A columnist with the New York Daily News, the author has written both fiction and nonfiction books, including a memoir about his hard-drinking days as a youth and young reporter, titled A Drinking Life.

But it's Snow in August that's gaining momentum in programs similar to One State, One Book around the country. Cities in Connecticut and Detroit also have chosen Hamill's novel.

"This is clearly the most important one," Hamill said of Colorado's program. "It's bigger (then the other two areas) and it's got such a variety of kinds of people. You've got university people, people in high-tech jobs. It's a terrific mix of people. You go wandering through Boulder and you know you're not in some wilderness."

"I think reading programs are so intelligent," he continued. "When you can get people to read -- not to be bettered (by reading) Six Ways to Fix Your Flat Feet, or something like that, but to read in a concentrated manner -- I think it's a fabulous idea."

Snow in August is the story of an 11-year-old boy growing up in Brooklyn in 1947. One day, the boy is hailed from the street by a rabbi, who asks him if he would turn on a light for him, explaining that Jews aren't allowed to do such labor on the Sabbath.

A friendship develops between the two, though their relationship is threatened by the Irish toughs that rule the streets. The rabbi introduces the boy to the culture of his native Prague, including the idea of a golem, an artificially created being endowed with life. For his part, the boy helps the rabbi better understand America, often through his love of baseball.

While Owens lauded the book for its theme of overcoming ethnic differences, Hamill notes that there were many other ideas running through his mind when he wrote the book.

"It's about a world some people can't even imagine, a world without television, and (it's about) the things that fed your imagination when I was a kid -- books, radio and conversation. It's about the importance of imagination.

"First you imagine, and then you live your imagination -- you imagine playing center field for the Yankees, or you imagine love affairs before you have them. If you could believe in Captain Marvel, you could believe in the golem. The golem stands for imagination, which is more powerful than any other thing humans are capable of.

"I think the book is also for black kids to understand what it was like before Jackie Robinson came and integrated not only baseball, but also the stands, so that you had blacks and whites cheering in one place . . .

"It's also a book about the aftermath of World War II and people coming to grips with what happened. The Holocaust didn't even have a name at the time. To see that kind of horror and pure evil touched everyone who was my age. It was one of the first sort of moral reactions we ever had."

Hamill's book is in print to the tune of 520,000 copies, hardback and paperback. Released in 1997, it's practically ancient history to a writer who has long since moved on to his next project. The author spent the last three years working on a novel, which he finished -- or so he thought -- Sept. 10.

"At 11 o'clock that night, I sent an e-mail to my editor to the effect, 'This is done, thank God. As soon as I get back from Kinko's, you'll have it.' My wife and I planned to have lunch the next day at Balthazar -- they have this big seafood plate called the Seafood Supreme -- and celebrate."

Then the World Trade Center went down. Hamill, who was at a meeting three blocks away, ran into the street just in time to watch the south tower crumble. "Some fireman smashed me into some doorway and into an office building" to shield him from fallout, he recalled.

But he couldn't avoid the literary repercussions: His book, 842 pages, needed a complete re-write. The girlfriend of his main character worked at the World Trade Center. In addition, "I have (mayor Rudy) Giuliani in the novel and he's a basket case -- about his wife, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's dog; he has cancer. It was a comedy. All that changed after Sept. 11."

Hamill is nearly done with his rewrite. The book, about the sweep of New York history beginning in 1741, is titled Forever ("As my editor and I have said much in the last few weeks, that's how long it's taken me to write it"). It will be out in January.

Meanwhile, he hopes Snow in August will be a stepping stone to other works of literature for those who participate in One State, One Book.

"I do think reading is associative. You read a certain kind of novel and it knocks your socks off. Then you're looking for something else like that."

What would that next book be?

"Who knows?" said Hamill, who might have been thinking of his favorite governor when he added: "It depends on who's around to give you advice."