26 Jan Some Story-Behind-the-Story of Demon: A Memoir

Did you know that Demon was my debut novel? It’s been a book of many covers—some of my favorites are pictured below, including various editions and foreign translations over the years. And some trivia about the story you might not know:

* The quote by Isak Dinesen is from “Out of Africa.”
* The Borders store in Chapter 2 was the location of my first book signing for this book. Sadly, it’s no longer there.
* Esad is based loosely on the story of Emsud, a local Bosnian tailor in my former home city.
*Sheila’s two boys, Justin and Caleb, are two sons of a friend of mine since first grade.
* The star-shaped perfume bottle that used to sit on Aubrey’s bathroom counter is “Angel” by Thierry Mugler. My friend, Cynthia (Mrs. Ohio), who won Mrs. America the year I was Mrs. Nebraska, gifted a bottle of this perfume to every contestant as her state gift.
* Lucian’s “Carpe Brewem” sweatshirt in the coffee shop chapter came from Lazlo’s restaurant and brewery in Lincoln, Nebraska.
* The Asian man on the plane with the receding hairline is my dad.
* Lucian’s “Animals Taste Good” t-shirt in the Commons chapter is made by the brand David and Goliath.
* My sister, Amy (who lives in the Boston area) and I have a cameo at the bar of the Four Seasons hotel. The Bristol Room has since been converted to another restaurant at the hotel.
* Every piece of art mentioned in the museum chapter was on display at the time of the chapter’s writing in 2005.
* The house in Haverhill is based on one owned by one of my college friends.
* Clay’s small apartment building on Norfolk is based on one exactly like it on the same street (see yesterday’s post).
* The Gospel Room is a real church, the size of a house, across the street on Norfolk (see yesterday’s post).
* The tea shop in Cambridge was called Tea Luxe in real life. It is no longer there.
* All of the Bible searches conducted in Demon (based on BibleGateway.com) yielded the same results that Clay found at the time of the book’s writing.
* Professor Skarda is based on my minor (International Relations) advisor at Smith College.
* Clay’s office exists as described in Cambridge, across from the former Quantum Books, which is no longer there.
* I’m named for a Puccini opera.  The operas mentioned in Demon are Puccini operas.
* The dim sum restaurant is the China Pearl, in Chinatown. Fabulous.
* The Monster at the End of the Book is a real book acquired by the author in a manner described by Clay–from a cousin living in Grand Island, Nebraska.
* Clay’s Cabo getaway took place at the Riu resort, which I have visited.
* The original, 1999 version of this book was written in second person directly to the reader. In 2005, the editor who eventually acquired it requested that it be set in an actual location with another character. So I set the story in Boston (it was either Boston,n where my little sister was living, or Nebraska) and Clay was born.

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