Interview

While other undergraduates at Sarah Lawrence were working at glamorous internships, Bennett Madison was honing his storytelling skills as one of Miss Cleo's phone psychics. Soon after, he turned his knack for spinning convincing fictions into a mystery series about a Nancy Drew type living in a surreal fantasyland called Halo City. Now, at 28, he's just had his third novel published and, while The Blonde of the Joke is technically for "young adults," it seems just as likely to appeal to adults (like, people over 20) as its spiritual forebears, Lynda Barry's Cruddy and the seminal tv series My So-Called Life. I talked to Bennett about the book's themes: friendship, love, shoplifting, and slutty outfits.


EMILY GOULD: The Blonde of the Joke has a lot of vivid descriptions of shoplifting. Have you ever shoplifted?

BENNETT MADISON: Ha! Barely. I have shoplifted like three things in my life. 

EG: What did you steal?

BM: A pair of sunglasses from Anthroplogie when I was 16, which I stepped on the day after I stole them.  Some art supplies when I was buying a bunch of art supplies and didn't have money for everything I needed. And once a block of cheddar cheese from C-Town in Morningside Heights.

EG: Wow, that lattermost one is the saddest. Actually they are all pretty sad.

BM: Well art supplies are really expensive so you don't really feel that bad about it especially if you're buying other stuff.  I think I was like $5 short so I just stole like a couple of erasers or something.  Generally I'm not into shoplifting. But you know, shoplifting from most places is really easy.  

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