Name: Late Show Book Club with "This Is Not About Us" Author Allegra Goodman
Uploaded: 2026-03-30T17:01:24.000Z
Duration: 9 min 41 s

動名詞

I'm Allegra Goodman, the author of "This Is Not About Us." Allegra, thank you so much for being here.

我是 Allegra Goodman，《This Is Not About Us》的作者。Allegra，非常謝謝你來這裡。

You are a New York Times bestselling author, and

妳是《紐約時報》暢銷書作家，

形容詞最高級

your latest, getting raves from critics and readers, is called "This Is Not About Us." How would you describe it in one sentence?

妳最新的作品，獲得評論家和讀者好評，叫做《This Is Not About Us》。妳會怎麼用一句話來形容它呢？

"This Is Not About Us" is about three generations of an American family who fight, who get along, who fall in and out of love, and

《This Is Not About Us》講述一個美國家庭三代人的故事，他們爭吵、和睦、相愛又分離，

grow up a bit, even the older ones, as the book goes on.

隨著書的進行，他們都成長了一些，即使是年長的家人也是。

do you think of it more as a novel or a collection of stories?

但妳覺得它比較像是一本小說，還是一個故事集呢？

I think of it as a serial novel because I was writing it over a number of years and publishing pieces of it in The New Yorker and elsewhere, and

我認為它比較像是一本連載小說，因為我寫了好幾年，並且在《紐約客雜誌》等地方發表部分內容，

readers would write to me and ask for more, so I kept writing more.

讀者們會寫信給我，希望看到更多，所以我持續寫下去。

What comes to mind when you talk about serial novels or you think about serial novels?

說到連載小說，妳會想到什麼？

I think of those great 19th-century novelists like Charles Dickens, who used to write their novels in pieces in magazines, and

我會想到像狄更斯那樣的十九世紀偉大作家，他們以前會在雜誌上分期寫小說，

people would wait for the next installment.

妳覺得為什麼我們現在不做這件事了？

妳覺得為什麼這種方式過時了？

Did you incorporate any of the as you were publishing parts of this, did you get feedback that ended up moving the direction of the story for you?

在妳出版這本書的部分內容時，有沒有收到什麼讀者回饋，進而影響了妳故事的發展方向？

What happened to Pam?" Questions like that, that sort of encouraged me and spurred me on.

Pam 後來怎麼樣了？」這類的問題，這些都鼓勵了我，也鞭策了我。

So I'm curious when this family first came to you.

所以我很好奇，這個家庭是什麼時候出現在妳腦海裡的？

妳是什麼時候開始構思他們的？

I conceived of them in a coffee shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while my daughter was at a rowing class on the river, and

我是在麻薩諸塞州劍橋的一間咖啡廳構思他們的，當時我女兒正在河上上划船課，

I started writing a story about three older sisters and a few that develops, when one bakes a much better apple cake than the other.

然後我開始寫一個關於三個姊姊的故事，接著發展出其中一個做的蘋果蛋糕比其他人好吃。

And I started thinking about each of them, and

然後我開始思考她們每一個人，

the whole family is now gathering at the sickbed of the third sister, and

而現在全家人正圍在第三個姊姊的病榻旁，

I thought, "Oh, it would be so interesting to trace each branch of this family and see how they all interact and see what becomes of them over the next few years." And so the book grew from there like a tree.

然後我就想，「喔，追溯這個家庭的每一條支線，看看他們如何互動，以及接下來幾年他們會變成怎樣，一定很有趣。」於是這本書就這樣像樹一樣發展出來。

The book is called "This Is Not About Us," but when you write about family, does your own family ever think it's about them?

這本書叫做《This Is Not About Us》，但當妳寫關於家庭時，妳自己的家人會不會覺得書裡寫的就是他們？

Well, it's funny because when I first finished the book, I sent it to my daughter in London, electronically, and

嗯，這很有趣，因為我剛寫完書時，我把電子檔寄給在倫敦的女兒，

she called me and said, "I think it's really cute how you labeled the document, 'This Is Not About Us,' to reassure the family." And I said, "No, no, no, that's the title." And she said, "Wait, it is about us?" And I said, "No, no, it's a fictional family." So I just tend to deny everything.

她打電話給我說：「我覺得妳把文件標記為『This Is Not About Us』，來讓家人安心，這點真的很可愛。」我說：「不是，不是，不是，那是書名。」她說：「等等，這是在寫我們嗎？」我說：「不是，不是，這是個虛構的家庭。」所以我傾向於什麼都否認。

That's my general policy when people ask me that question.

這是我被問到這個問題時的一貫原則。

In this book, you explore how grief can separate a family as much as it can bring people together.

在這本書裡，妳探討了悲傷如何能像把家人凝聚在一起一樣，也能將他們分開。

Why did a rift feel like the right place to introduce us to this family?

為什麼一個裂痕會是介紹這個家庭給我們的恰當切入點？

I think that if you're going to write about family, you're going to be writing about friction and conflict.

我認為，如果你要寫家庭，你就會寫到摩擦和衝突。

If you're interested in politics, write about family.

如果你對政治感興趣，那就寫家庭吧。

If you're I had a reader write to me and say, "How could this have happened?

如果我有一位讀者寫信給我說：「怎麼會發生這種事？

And when are they going to reconcile?" And I was sort of like, "Why don't we have world peace?" These are really deep questions.

他們什麼時候才會和好？」我就想說：「為什麼我們沒有世界和平？」這些都是很深層的問題。

And my father, when he read this book, said, "I would never do something like that.

我爸爸讀了這本書後說：「我絕對不會做那種事。

I would never." And I said, "Well, that's why I titled the book, 'This Is Not About Us,' because our family is perfect and nobody ever fights." Of course.

我絕對不會。」我就說：「嗯，這就是我為什麼把書名取為『This Is Not About Us』，因為我們家很完美，從來沒人吵架。」當然。

The book is very funny and reminds us that humor and grief can often exist hand in hand.

這本書非常有趣，提醒我們幽默和悲傷常常可以並存。

Is that something you wanted to convey in this story?

這是不是妳在這故事裡想傳達的？

Yeah, I'm interested in humor and irony and absurdity.

是的，我對幽默、諷刺和荒謬很感興趣。

And the reader I think the reader finds some things funny that perhaps the people inside the family don't, so the reader has that perspective from the outside, which is a wiser perspective.

我想讀者覺得有些地方很有趣，但書裡的角色可能不覺得，所以讀者有這種局外人的視角，這是一個更明智的視角。

It's a book about coming together as well as sort of pulling apart.

這是一本關於結合，以及有點疏離的書。

And it's about what I see, which is that sometimes when we're stressed, we don't always rise to the occasion.

還有，這也是我所觀察到的，有時候當我們壓力很大的時候，我們並不總是能挺身而出。

I mean, maybe your family does, but that's why the book is a book about other people.

我是說，也許妳的家人會，但這也是為什麼這本書是關於別人的原因。

This family comes to life in the details, especially of Jewish humor and food, which are so essential to the American Jewish identity.

這個家庭的生命力體現在細節裡，特別是猶太幽默和食物，這對美國猶太人的身份認同非常重要。

What did you want to capture about faith, and specifically the Jewish faith, in this book?

妳想在這本書裡捕捉關於信仰，特別是猶太信仰的哪些部分？

I was interested in drawing a portrait of a Jewish family who are not super observant but are very identifiably Jewish.

我對描繪一個並非非常虔誠但卻非常有猶太人特徵的猶太家庭感到興趣。

So then the question is sort of, what is their culture?

所以問題就變成，他們的文化是什麼？

What is being Jewish in America today like?

在美國，現在的猶太人是什麼樣子的？

I've also heard from a lot of readers who aren't Jewish who sort of see dynamics in their own family, which resonate, which is interesting.

我也聽很多非猶太讀者說，他們在自己的家庭裡也看到了類似的互動，覺得很有共鳴，這很有趣。

I understand that you wrote it alongside your last novel, Ysola.

我知道妳寫這本書的同時，也寫了上一本小說 Ysola。

How was the multitasking of writing two very different books?

同時寫兩本截然不同的書，那種多工處理的感覺怎麼樣？

What was that like, balancing those two things in the same time?

同時進行這兩件事，感覺怎麼樣？

I would describe it as time travel because I was writing one book set in the 16th century about a French noblewoman who was marooned on an island in the Gulf of St.

我會形容那是一種時空旅行，因為我當時寫一本設定在 16 世紀的書，關於一位被困在聖羅倫斯灣島上的法國貴婦，

this book is about a 21st-century American family who sort of live in New Jersey and the suburbs of Boston.

而這本書是關於一個 21 世紀的美國家庭，他們住在紐澤西州和麻薩諸塞州波士頓的郊區。

And it was actually fun and refreshing to go back and forth between them.

而且來回切換寫這兩本書，其實很有趣也很讓人耳目一新。

I should also say that because I wrote this book in small parts, I only wrote it on Sunday mornings.

我還得說，因為我是分期寫這本書的，所以只在週日早上寫。

You wrote this entire book only on Sunday mornings?

你整本書都是在週日早上寫的？

Yeah, until the very end when I was putting the whole thing together.

對，直到最後要整合起來的時候。

Yeah, so it was a very gradual process, but I think the book benefited from taking that time.

對，所以這是一個很緩慢的過程，但我認為這本書受益於花了這麼多時間。

Because I think that I was able to allow the characters to grow and change.

因為我覺得這樣我才能讓角色們成長和改變。

And of course, during that time, I was growing and changing, so that gradual arc was something I was able to work on.

當然，在這段時間裡，我也在成長和改變，所以這個漸進的歷程是我能夠著手的。

那個週日例行公事是怎麼開始的？

It started when my daughter was taking that rowing class on Sunday mornings, and

我女兒週日早上去上划船課的時候開始的，

I was in the coffee shop on the Charles River, and

那時候我在查爾斯河邊的咖啡店，

I got in the habit, even after she quit rowing.

然後我就養成了習慣，即使她後來沒去划船了。

I said, "This is my time just for this project." Wow.

我跟自己說：「這是專屬於這個計畫的時間。」哇。

If you are intentionally seeking inspiration outside of books, outside of where do you go?

如果你是有意地在書本之外、在其他地方尋找靈感，你會去哪裡？

And I listen to a lot of music without words and just allow my imagination to play.

我會聽很多沒有歌詞的音樂，讓我的想像力自由發揮。

And that's where I get inspired, and that's also where I solve problems.

那就是我獲得靈感的地方，也是我解決問題的地方。

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Late Show Book Club with "This Is Not About Us" Author Allegra Goodman

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