Christian Lander: The Best Selling Author of "Stuff White People Like"

Christian Lander began a little blog on WordPress back in 2008 called “Stuff White People Like" It became an instant over night sensation. In less then a year he has been commissioned by Random House to write a book version and since then his book has sold millions around the world. He took a break from giving book talks and dreaming big to discuss his secrets of success. It was an honor and a privilege to meet such a humble writer like himself who has become one of the most famous writer/bloggers in the world!

When did you first begin these entries on WordPress?I began January 18, 2008…I remember it quite vividly, at the time I thought it would be a stupid blog that would just make my friends laugh but looking back, I see it as an important day.

How long did it take after that for agents to contact you?
I started getting approached by several agents in the first three weeks…

That was fast!
…and it took about three months after that before I chose my first agent.

What made you chose him/her?I asked a lot of people. All the agents were reputable but I really liked this agent that I chose.

What’s your advice to writers who want to become published?My advice is not to try…

That’s right…I did read that somewhere actually.…that’s the snarky way to say it…but realistically my main goal was for my three friends. It’s its own reward because I love what I do...there’s an honesty to it that I think people really see.

Are you open about discussing the advance you got for your book or is it a secret?It’s not something I discuss and I continue to follow that rule… Random House has been very good to me.

Has it been translated into other languages?
It’s doing really well in Australia... it’s also been translated into Dutch and Japanese.

I’m so glad it’s getting world-wide recognition. Oh, I also read somewhere that people initially thought you were black?Yes (laughing) and they were disappointed that I wasn’t. Many people thought I was an Ivy-League black guy…people would have thought it was more controversial and it would have been more instigated. It was fun for a while in the beginning. Some people also thought I was Asian.

How many hits did your site get before an agent approached you?It hit the one million mark.

Oh, I didn’t know that! I’m kind of jealous of you. There. I’m admitting it. Do you think that made a difference in getting so many agents?
It makes it easier for them to market…it has proven itself and it’s not as much of a risk.

Are you still adding new material?

It’s slowing down because I’m definitely feeling a bit burned out on it. The book itself has eighty or so entries something like that and on the web another forty…there was a lot of new material for the book that has been kept exclusive to the book.

Do you recall what your very first entry was about?“Coffee” was the first one I wrote and then so many followed after that…when I get a good idea I just need to get it out and I need to write it as fast and as furiously as possible.

Do you have a favorite?
“Knowing What’s Best for Poor People” is my favorite…

Why?
It was the one where I was most viciously attacking how pretentious I am…

In what sense?
When you read it you’ll get what I’m getting at.

I have to reread that one now. What were you working at, at the time you first embarked on this life changing journey?I was a copywriter at an ad agency…

Dreaming of becoming a writer I assume?Yeah, since I realized I wasn’t going to be a rock star or a major league baseball player…I was a failed writer, a journalist and academic…I dropped out of a PH.D program…

That’s so encouraging…you were struggling a bit and then BOOM, this great book gets written…I read this book in an hour by the way, I couldn’t put it down!
There’s a lot of ways to get it as a writer…I got ridiculously lucky…but it’s not like I hadn’t been trying to be a writer my whole life…my job was in writing and I had done some journalism…but this is better though.

Where have you given book talks?Google, Brown University… I’ve done three book tours since it came out so it’s a long list…

I also read somewhere that you don’t own a car, is that some political message?I prefer bicycles…I’ve never had a car in my life.

Is there another book in the works?
No, I’m moving into TV writing next….

Really? What kind of genre?
I’m hoping to write for a comedy TV show next.

That makes sense. Your writing is hysterical.

Thanks.

What was the reaction from your friends? Were they surprised by the instant fame you received?I think people were surprised about how big it was…people who know me weren’t surprised about what it was…they know this is the kind of stuff that I write.

Have you ever gotten any hate mail?
Yeah, people have accused (it) as being racist. It’s misinterpreting…some people really mean well and some people are idiots…there’s no getting around that at all.

I also read that there have been many knock-offs of your original idea…I think that is just wrong!
Yeah, there’s so much… “Stuff Unemployed People Like,” Stuff Midwesterners Like,” “Stuff Gay People Like…”

That must have been upsetting for you after you thought of it and now so many people are using it and making a lot money from it!
No, not at all. Almost all of them have linked back to me. I think they do really good work. I think it’s cool people are doing it….I don’t have any problem whatsoever with it…they’re writing about stereotypes in a non-hateful and funny way….some of them aren’t that funny but they’re trying. The only thing I dislike is when it’s negative, that’s something I wish I could get rid of but you can’t really stop the Internet. But the idea of people taking the idea and going with it is a positive thing…the world is not about bottling up ideas…it’s an art, I think it’s fantastic… they’re just building off my idea, it’s not taking away from my site…

That’s very liberal you. Have you ever been influenced to write a certain entry by a fan?Someone added one earlier on about hardwood floors and I really liked that and wrote about it but most of these ideas I already had…

Is there a certain length you use in your entries?
No. I just wrote as I saw fit….just where the humor flows and how it fits…..

What are your current projects?
I just got back from the Sydney Writers Festival in Australia and the Bumper Shoot Festival in Seattle and they’ll be some college readings coming up in September.

Do you have many “writer friends?”I still have “writer friends” but now I have “successful writer friends” (laughing)....

Now that you’re a celebrity, do you have to wear sunglasses to get ice cream and that sort of thing?
Well, not exactly…but I have been recognized…three times in Australia, twice in the US and once in Toronto…and once in LA but I was mistaken for an actor on “Entourage” before I had the beard.

Now that you can do whatever you want…what are some things you’ve gotten the opportunity to do because of this highly acclaimed book?I got to be on the Conan O’ Brian show and that was a life long dream of mine that I thought would never happen…

What are some qualities you like about him?
He’s been a hero of mine since I was in high school…he’s very funny and sharp and I thought it was just a dream come true that I just wasn’t expecting…

Is there a writer who you are greatly influenced by?
David Sedaris…probably the funniest writer I ever read and everyone who works for the Onion…oh, he just writes these really funny essays.

I will check him out. Oh, I love the Onion! What about music...that a "White" question?Indie rock… Reggaeton,,,um…let’s see, it’s always dated…Apollo Ghosts, Dirty Projectors, Saint Vincent…

I don’t know any of them…they don’t seem dated.Yeah, that’s how I win.

You’ve written about this in your book too, “Music White People Like,” which is…It’s the “white ipod;” the Arcade Fire, the Pixies, The Beatles, A Tribe Called Quest…

And then there’s the other one, “Black Music White People Like?”That would be Blues, Old School Hip Hop, that sort of stuff....

So, if a fan or just a friend said, “Hey Christian, I’m writing (fill in the blank) and I want to be a success!” your advice to them would be?
The happiest you’ll be is if you consider (it) your own reward and you’ll be surprised about what will come of it…

What about life in general…what makes you happy in life?
Um…I don’t know, no idea…

But Christian! I thought you knew everything! (laughing)
I DO know everything! It’s all subjective. Find something you really like to do…it’s all very Eckart Tolle…I’m hoping when I do something it’ll work…BUT if it stops just like that I’m okay with it…I’ll be totally fine….everything I’ve dreamed of is happening for me. I’ve been on Conan O’Brien and I have this best selling book….I dream big but I don’t believe anything is owed to me, that is an important way to look at things.

Is there a country where your book has been more successful then others?Australia was insane…I got recognized a lot…and the book readings were packed and…many people over there just really embraced it.

Well, Christian, I am so grateful for your time and words of wisdom…your book is very funny but also very well written, it has changed many lives, it has influenced others to write their own versions, and it’s got people talking which is always a positive thing. I wish your book continued success and I hope you write another book one day. Thank you.
You’re welcome.

Chatting with Colin Broderick, the writer of Orangutan

Released by Random House December

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3H-HlIYhHk

It's been awhile since I've been excited about a book release. After hearing about Orangutan and pounding the pavement to find the writer, I finally got an interview with the Colin himself. He openly discussed his difficulty getting sober in an environment that condemns recovery, to the process of his book and finding an established agent...who holds the key to world wide publication/distribution so others in his predicament can be helped...before it is too late.

It's so nice to meet you...I'm so excited for the release of your book! I've heard so many great things about it. Tell me what it was like getting an agent for it?
I met a guy called Chris Campion...he wrote a book called Escape from Bellevue. I said, "If you get me an interview with your agent you'll never regret it!"

Just like that...that's the luck of the Irish for ya.

And she's the same agent for Barack Obama's book, "Dreams From My Father..." Three Rivers Press-Random House.

How many millions of copies do you think that book sold?
It hasn't left the best seller list for like two years now. Yeah, we hit it off immediately. She's huge now...we met just before he became the president. She just encouraged him to write a book after he graduated....

She obviously has an eye for talent. How many books have you actually written?
Three altogether, this is my first book that's been published.

Tell me about this soon to be released in book stores nation-wide book!
I'm actually working on the final edits as I'm speaking to you then the book will be in stores in December.

This is magic! I'm just in time...this interview is going to be gold soon. What will readers expect?

It's a memoir that chronicles the 20 years I spent working as a construction worker here in New York...and all the drinking...and trying to become a writer...

The title of your book is really significant...

Yeah, the book is called, Orangutan and the direct translation is man of the forest...the title of the book comes from when I was in a bar in California at the age of 23 and I was drinking with a black drag queen who was convinced that she was the true queen of England and she was crying on my shoulder about it...

Oh my god!
...And he/she said, "You don't know what's it like to be trapped inside a man's body" and I said, "But I do understand... I know what it's like to be trapped! I want to be an orangutan but I'm trapped in a man's body."

(laughing)

...so everytime I drank I became an orangutan and started acting inappropriately in public and ended up in jail...because that's what happens when you're an orangutan in an urban environment!

How many times did you go to jail?
Twice here in New York.

What were the offenses?
Drunk driving...I began to attempt recovery at the age of 23.

What happened?
I was knocked down by a car at the age of 24 and broke my back in two places and became a pill popper for about seven years...

As an Irish man, how long did it take you to return to work after breaking your back?
They told me I'd never be able to do construction again but I was back in less then a year.

Sounds like something my own father would do...What did you do for money when you weren't working at that time?
Workman's Comp.

Thank god!

I didn't drink again until I was 31 and was going through my second divorce and then the cycle began again...everything that didn't happen the first time around happened...the waking up in hospitals, the jails...

So when you returned to work after getting hit by a car and stopped drinking for those few years before your relapse at the age of 31, what else were you doing?
I went back to college and studied under Billy Collins and he became my mentor...I studied poetry with him.

Did you ever publish any of your poems?
I won the Alice B Croft Award while I was there.

Did you graduate?
No, I quit before I graduated...

Oh no!
...and opened up a book store/coffee shop in Riverdale.

Sounds awesome...was it successful?
No, but it stayed open for two years anyway....

What happened, why'd it close?
It's not as romantic as you'd think...when you're on the other side of the counter...I detail it in the book...how I just got sick of working 17 hours a day. But we had the best of the top poets world wide: Column McCann, Billy Collins, a long list of names...

Are you still in touch with Billy Collins?
I'm not sure, I haven't heard from him since I quit drinking. I'm beginning to think I might have insulted him in a late night drunken phone call. We've been friends for fifteen to sixteen years...

Who is your favorite writer?
Hemingway and Bukowski.

Who?
Charles Bukowski...he's a German...he just wrote all about his drinking and his debauchery...he's just a wild man, he's great...and Hemingway just for his clarity.

So, you never gradated college but you still wrote a book? I love it!
A few of my professors told me to just go write...I guess they were afraid I'd become a teacher and get lost in the system.

That happens way too often. Is there any censoring in Orangutan?
No, none whatsoever...whatever came out of my mouth went into the book...I wrote over 500 pages and it got edited down to 386 something like that...it's tough when you're writing a book...the people who know me are actually surprised of what I left out, you have to keep the thread of the story moving along so that the reader doesn't get bored with it.

What countries are mentioned?
I do a drunken trip to Paris, Russia...it goes from NY to San Francisco, Ireland, England....and in the end I wind up in Prague!

Why does the book end there?
I met this bartender called Renata and she gave me the will to finally sober up. We moved to Prague together to get away from it all for a while. At the moment I'm working on my new book and putting my documentary together and still working construction when I need the work.

Did you feel there was a lot of peer pressure to drink as an Irish Construction worker?
Sure, absolutely...it's in the book about the irony that the more I drank...the better I got paid and the more jobs I got...

That is ironic...so not good if you have a drinking problem!

(laughing) ...because all the Irish guys I know will claim they drink more than you do anyway so it's hard to say, "Hey guys...I have a problem."

True...where did you drink in Woodlawn (Irish section of the Bronx)?
I used to drink in the Catalpa and if a sane person walked in one night and seen what was going on they'd call people to come for straight jackets...I mean it's insanity...it's easy when you're drinking in the nuthouse to say,"They're the problem...it's not us, we're just drinking,..having fun."

Do you think the ugly stereotype for the Irish is true then?
Yes, it's very grounded in reality...what Mexican bars? What Italian? No...it's Irish...the stereotype is there because we drink. There are Asian, Italian, Chinese restaurants but 8 times out of 10 where there's a bar...it's Irish and that's because we drink.

You're right...come to think of it, I've never seen a Chinese bar, ever, maybe once.

When this book comes out the Irish are going to burn me at the stake but they'll buy the book anyway because they'll want to see if they're mentioned in it and what bars I talked about...

Wow!

There's actually been a book burning of Angela's Ashes....for this one they'll forgo the burning of the book and just burn me...

I hope not...I want you to keep writing, this stuff is really good.
Most Irish writers had to leave Ireland or stay in it and drink themselves to death...the Irish are famous for murdering their own talent...

That's very sad.
The Irish don't want to see anybody rise above the rest..that's why people like Shane McGowan and Brendan Behan were revered...it's only when Irish writers became honest and wrote about the truth that they came up against criticism......

In your book do you mention any dry out sessions?
Yeah, the book discusses how "Real Irish" don't need detox..the American dries out, goes to rehab and then to recovery....

Not common for many Irish!

No, the Irish guy dries out and goes back to the bar....

In conclusion...
In conclusion, it's much harder first of all culturally to admit defeat and then ask for help...we don't need no help...

I'm so excited to own a copy...I think your book will help others. It is so sad to see people suffer when they don't have to.

I always say in my book that in every room in recovery there needs to be an Irish guy to lend an air of authenticity.

That's interesting.
I think the Irish culturally have real problems with communication especially when it comes to talking about their problems and emotions....Americans are much more open...

Ah...thank you...
...when you sit down with an American they'll tell you everything whereas in Ireland they'll tell you about the weather and what they're wearing or they'll talk about the other great past time football...I guess you could say that I've been amazed that for a country that is revered for it's literary history...there are no contemporary writers...it's amazing...

Yeah, we need another Joyce and I hope that'll be you. So what happens in the end?
...I got married for the third time, to Renata.

THIRD TIME!
...we moved to Prague and I'm now back living in New York with my wife and daughter doing what I was meant to do, which is writing.

Doing what you love! That's perfect...your story is perfect for my book/blog because it stays true to its premise. I'm dying dying for a copy of your book....they're going to sell like crazy.
Thank you.


Below is a link to a recent piece by the author published in The New York Times:


www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/opinion/29broderick.html?pagewanted=print