Aug 26, 2026 · 43 min
Jennifer Egan turns doubt, research, and ambiguity into fiction
“I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself” | Better in Person
Egan’s account of writing shows how novels emerge from uncertainty, disciplined revision, personal history, and a refusal to simplify human behavior.
- 1Egan deliberately writes against the style of her previous books, using formal change to keep her work creatively unsettled.
- 2Her new murder mystery combines extensive historical research, family influences, and painstaking systems for managing characters and drafts.
- 3She sees fiction’s deepest value in entering another consciousness while preserving ambiguity instead of dictating moral judgments.
Don't miss
Egan speaks candidly about her younger brother’s suicide, schizophrenia, and the family’s struggle to understand his illness.
The brief
Jennifer Egan describes a process built on productive distrust: after each book, she deliberately challenges its aesthetic choices rather than repeating a proven formula.
Her writers’ group reads drafts aloud, helping Egan separate useful reactions from prescriptive fixes and discover what a struggling manuscript is trying to become.
Egan’s next novel is a 1950s San Francisco murder mystery shaped by noir, postwar history, changing gender roles, family stories, timelines, and successive drafts.
She treats awards and adaptations as partly matters of luck, even as she acknowledges the labor and merit required to put a book in contention.
The conversation turns personal when Egan discusses her brother’s suicide and schizophrenia, then connects fiction’s power to empathy with its refusal to judge characters for readers.
Egan resists using AI in her creative work and argues that fiction matters because it places readers inside another consciousness while preserving life’s mystery.
Books & mentions
Some links are affiliate links — PodLume may earn a commission if you buy.
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Egan’s formally inventive novel provides the clearest entry point into the style she discusses resisting.
Manhattan Beach
Its direct historical storytelling shows the different aesthetic Egan pursued after Goon Squad.
The Candy House
This companion novel extends Egan’s exploration of technology, memory, identity, and creative connection.