Andrew Zornoza
Andrew Zornoza is the author of the novel Where I Stay. His short fiction, photography, and essays have appeared in magazines such as Gastronomica, Sleepingfish, Confrontation, CapGun, and Matter Magazine, among many others. Born in Houston, Texas and now living in New York, he has taught fiction and writing at The New School University, Gotham Writers’ Workshop and in Parsons’ MFA program. He is a contributing editor to the arts journal Helping Orphans Worldwide (H.O.W.).
Since I started my new novel Forest and Locket, more than a year ago, I’ve listened to only one album. Kid A. I broke the 1000 mark on the eighth floor of Bobst Library, the day after Thanksgiving, looking up just in time to watch a depressed cloudbank sulkily ram into the Trump Soho. Sometimes, I cringe when hitting the play button—but I really have little urge to listen to anything else when I write, and have, in fact, wiped all other music off my computer .
The new book is about a young boy who is attempting to save the entire world (and his mother) while playing a video game his dead father has left behind. But what it’s also really about is the future of individual genius and the boundaries of consciousness. One of the final scenes takes place at a fictional Radiohead concert in Asbury Park.
Playlist for Forest and Locket
1. Kid A Radiohead—on repeat
2. “I’m Sorry I Got You Arrested.” Live at the Caspar Inn. The Dirt Floor Band. This song did briefly pull me away from Kid A. Their guitar player sent me the CD. Scribbled in Sharpie across the top were the words, “Andrew, I’m Sorry I Got You Arrested.” Apology accepted.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to when I’m not writing :
3. Basehead “Play With Toys”
4. The Crucifucks “The Crucifucks”
5. The Lisps “The Vain, the Modest and The Dead”
6. Bob Dylan “Theme Time Radio Hour”
7. Love “Forever Changes”
8. Butthole Surfers “Live PCPPEP”
9. Deltron “Deltron 3030”
