Dan's Papers - August 1, 2008

Dan's Papers talks with Philip Galanes, East Hampton resident and author of Emma's Table.

Q: Your second novel, Emma's Table, was just published by HarperCollins last week. Can you tell readers a bit about it?

A: It's a comedy of manners about a Martha Stewart-styled designer - very Park Avenue -who's fresh out of prison and desperate to find a second act for herself. Her business empire is thriving, but her personal relationships are in shambles. She employs a weekend assistant named Benjamin, who's desperate to please her and always falling short of the mark. He's a social worker during the week, and has a 9-year-old client named Gracie, who's painfully overweight. The novel tracks these three separate lives - like balls in a juggling act - until they inevitably collide, which leads to all kinds of unforeseen adventure. It's a great book for summer: Fast and fun, a little touching.

Q: What was your inspiration for the story?

A: You know, I was strangely moved by Martha Stewart's fall from grace. The way the tabloids pounced, practically dripping blood. I began to wonder how a person could ever bounce back from such a public mortification. And as I began to work, creating a world for this central character, Emma, I began to see how we all need to find a way to bounce back from the hits we take in our lives.

Q: A Nakashima table plays a very important role in Emma's Table. What's so special about it?

A: In my opinion, tables by George Nakashima are about as perfect as tables can get - with softly curving edges and beautiful sap lines and grain. They're tables, but with lots of tree in them still. In Emma's Table, the heroine acts very badly to acquire one, and her misbehavior is what kicks off the action of the novel. And the table keeps popping up too, all throughout, and even manages to bring everyone together in the end. It's both a beautiful object and the glue that holds people together when they sit down around it.

Q: You've recently begun writing an advice column called "Social Q's" in the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times. Can you tell us a little about it?

A: It is, without doubt, the biggest and best unforeseen development in my recent history. The Times wanted to publish a modern advice column - think Dear Abby's grandchild. They wanted it to be a little funny and a little serious, a little provocative from time to time. The editor had seen my first novel, Father's Day, and she liked its snappy voice, and then she saw an article about an apartment I designed in the city, and when she learned that I'm a lawyer too, she thought all these different influences might coalesce in an interesting way. It's a Q-and-A format, with readers writing in, and it's been running since June. I'm having tremendous fun with it.

Q: As an attorney, an advice columnist, interior designer and author, you wear many professional hats. How did your writing career come about?

A: I began writing extremely early in the mornings about 10 years back, before I went into the office, where I work as an entertainment lawyer, representing clients in theater and fashion and the fine arts. Just writing exercises really - short scenes and little things I'd seen in the street. It clicked for me though, and I felt much less self-conscious writing about things that really matter to me through the lens of fictional characters. It became a way of working through them almost. Before long, I was writing in a disciplined way.

Q: You have a home in East Hampton. Do you find the Hamptons creatively inspiring? Do you do a lot of writing while here?

A: Yes, we live here, and it's where I do all my writing - both fiction and the column. It's normally very quiet, which is hard to remember at the beginning of August, when 27 begins to look like the Gaza Strip! And finding quiet, both in my surroundings and my head, is critical for my work. My favorite daily activity is taking our dog, Chiccio, to the beach. My mind can really wander there.