"Once you've interviewed as many people as Susan Orlean has, you start to crave what she calls "counterprogramming." Every magazine profile has its setting; every setting suggests activities that a journalist might find logical to do with their subject. In New York City, driving is not one of those. Which is why right after I meet Orlean in Soho, she gets behind the wheel of a borrowed car, installs me in the passenger seat, and heads directly for the Holland Tunnel."
"The writer, 69, lives in Los Angeles, but when she lived in Manhattan in the '80s, she had two cars, one of them parked on the street - which meant she spent a lot of time hurrying up the sidewalk to check on it, craning her neck to see if this would be the day she'd find the windows smashed. Now, she steers us deep into the pit of New Jersey. We pass a wig store. Motels. Car dealerships."
Susan Orlean craves counterprogramming and seeks unexpected activities when profiling people, including driving through New Jersey after a Soho meeting. She lives in Los Angeles but previously kept cars in Manhattan, which prompted anxious walks to check parked vehicles and fear of vandalism. She notes the bland surroundings of New Jersey and reacts to landmarks like the American Dream mall. Orlean has built a prolific nonfiction career without a fixed beat, writing notable pieces and books such as The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. Her latest book, Joyride, is a memoir born from reexamining a 1992 Esquire profile.
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