"Growing up, I'd lie to my diary to just make my life seem more entertaining. I lied about having horses, [living] in a big mansion, and that I was on American Idol,"
"Having a narrative that was my own perspective on what [was happening] was very important to me."
"She said something like, 'Don't let the assholes win,' but I've also been the asshole,' says Gage, 30. 'We've all been the asshole. We've all been the villainous person at times. Julia's never trying to be the hero of her story and she never plays the victim.'"
"I've lived a good amount of life in all these different places and been thrown into situations that were a little insane at the time," he says. "Both of them lived inside of me at that time."
Lukas Gage grew up inventing details in his diary to make life seem more entertaining, fabricating horses, a mansion, and American Idol appearances. Writing his debut memoir clarified the impulse to fabricate and the importance of shaping a personal narrative from his own perspective. Julia Fox's Down The Drain resonated due to its moral ambiguity and refusal to occupy simple hero or victim roles. Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch connected through themes of reinvention and redemption embodied by complex characters. Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible illustrated the power of multiple, distinct narrative voices within one family.
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