Ashley Whitaker earned her MFA from the University of Michigan, and her writing has appeared in publications like Tin House and Story Quarterly. Now, her debut novel Bitter Texas Honey is available for readers to dive into.
The novel follows Joan West, an aspiring writer caught between her conservative family and her messy past in 2011 Austin. As she mines her chaotic relationships and family dysfunction for material, especially her fraught connection with ex-muse Roberto, Joan is determined to make art out of her contradictions. But when her beloved cousin Wyatt hits rock bottom, Joan’s worldview begins to crumble, forcing her to confront what it really means to live, love, and create.
We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her better and discover the books that shaped her life.
What was the first book you were obsessed with as a child?
As a child I loved reading series. I found comfort in returning to the same characters and their worlds, again and again. I’m not sure which series I became obsessed with first, but some that stand out in my memory are the original adventures of Hank the Cowdog, The Boxcar Children, My Teacher is An Alien, the Baby-Sitters Club, and of course, Sweet Valley High.
What book helped you through puberty?
I’m sad to say that I don’t think I read a single book during puberty. Even if a book was assigned in school, I only read the Cliff’s Notes, and I almost failed my English class at sixteen. My teen years were difficult, and all I cared about was becoming beautiful, attracting boys, and getting out of my house somehow. I will say that what got me through those years was the call-in radio show Love Line, which I listened to every night in bed. Fortunately, I began reading voraciously again during my sophomore year in college, when I officially decided I wanted to be a writer.
What book do you think all teenagers should be assigned in school?
This is a tough one because as I mentioned, I didn’t read as a teen, and it’s hard to pick one book that ALL teens should read. That said, I think I would assign something hybrid or experimental, such as Fun Home, the tragicomic graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, or Letters to Wendy’s, the outrageous epistolary novel by Joe Wenderoth. I think it would be good to show kids early on all the different and exciting forms storytelling can take, how weird and wonderful literature can be. It doesn’t have to fit in one box.
If you were to teach a class on Damn Good Writing, what books would make the syllabus?
Another tough one! So many options. If I were teaching a class, I would stick to very slim novels or story collections out of respect for my students’ attention spans. Off the top of my head, I’d probably include: Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill, The Visiting Privilege by Joy Williams, Where I’m Calling From by Raymond Carver, The Night in Question by Tobias Wolff, Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh, Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, Black Light by Kimberly King Parsons and We the Animals by Justin Torres. Also, any book by Sigrid Nunez, who is probably my favorite living author.
What books helped guide you while writing your book?
My novel is very much inspired by my own experiences—growing up in Texas in a dysfunctional family, being a hopeless alcoholic and all-around idiot, etc. I’ve always been drawn to works of fiction that seem to reflect the lived experience of their author. Something about witnessing an author exploring their past self fictionally, crafting a story out of their own experience, feels so personal and raw and illuminating. Also, these books can be self-deprecating and hilarious in a way that pure fiction cannot. My book took me literally forever to write, so there are truly too many inspirations to list here. But some of the books that guided me were Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson, This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz, Self Help by Lorrie Moore, Taipei by Tao Lin, Problems by Jade Sharma, The Idiot by Elif Batuman, The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn, and Chelsea Girls by Eileen Myles, just to name a few.
What books are on your nightstand now?
Lately, I can only read books that are funny. I think I love humor more than anything else in the world. On the nightstand now: Colored Television by Danzy Senna, Girl, Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo, Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn, and some new releases I’ve been excited for: Sky Daddy by Kate Folk, and She’s a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock.