No matter what you think about Livingroom Johnston’s prose—from his new novel to his sprawling stories wrapped in miles of MySpace pages—you have to agree you’ve never seen anything quite like him.
His stories blend beat poet imagery with boozy adventures, and he built his authorial style from scratch, blending private detective, hip-hop, and graffiti artist in an unstable package.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
Your stories criss-cross some pretty different influences, from Langston Hughes to Charles Bukowski. How do you blend these styles in your own writing? Who are your favorite writers? Who do you recommend fledgling writers read for inspiration?
Livingroom Johnston:
I did state Walter Mosley and Charles Bukowski. I am a fan of Langston Hughes’ Jesse B. Simple stories.
I like the way he made the character out to be like a real person. I once heard the term "SELF FICTION." And ran with it. That’s about it.
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