Bestselling author John Niven explores the suicide of his younger brother Gary in his new novel. In an interview with the star he talks about writing and dark moments.
Mister Niven, your last book “The F*ck-it List” was about the USA after Trump. Now he could face the world once again. How do you view this development?
I can’t believe it. I remember sitting in front of the TV all day on January 6, 2021 and thinking: If there’s one good thing about this, it’s the fact that Trump is finished. The guy literally called for the storming of the Capitol. That’s it, it’s over once and for all… But nothing there! He got all these idiots going who never vote otherwise. These idiots are now the driving force. The fact that we’re talking about a guy like him as a possible US president is completely ridiculous; he shouldn’t even sit on a local council. My only hope is that they get him in court.
With your new book “O Brother” you dedicate yourself to your family history. The focus is on her younger brother Gary, who fell into a coma and died in 2010 at the age of 42 after a suicide attempt.
It was always clear to me that one day I would write about my brother. But as is the case with many experiences we have in life: it takes a certain amount of time for them to settle. An event of this magnitude, the early death of such a close relative, takes much longer.