The Rake: It’s a relief to finally be speaking to you. You’re hard to pin down. But then, you know that. We’ve been holding the cover of the magazine for you. You’ve seen The Rake?
Erdrich: Oh, yes. I see The Rake all the time, I see it all over. I liked the cover of your last issue [“Are You on a Terrorist Watch List?”]. I haven’t actually read it yet, but my first thought was, Oh my God, I probably am on one of those lists.
Well, you certainly could be. You’re very well known. And here you are again with a new book, getting rave reviews and creating a lot of hoopla. What is it like to be at a point where you just do what you do and the reception is automatically there?
Oh, wow. [Laughs.] Well, you know, I haven’t really taken that in, to be honest. I’ve never really gotten to the point where I feel that way. I sit down to write and inevitably I am filled with doubt. Actually, I am never sure I can do it. I think, “Oh, well. That was it, I’m done now, there’s nothing left.” For other writers, of course, it’s the opposite. I have no problem feeling optimistic about the work of others, and I do believe in being positive. I’m just not able to do it with my own writing.
And yet, you write and you write. What is a typical writing day for you?
A writing day. Well. You must understand, I’m so tired now, I do what I can do. I write in the morning until I get too tired. I write for as long as I can keep myself awake writing. I fall asleep writing. I have a two-year-old, and you know how it is when you have a baby. You’re just exhausted all the time. I try to get however much writing I can get done before I fall asleep. [Laughs.] But I have to say, I’m very lucky. I have two women who help me with the baby, and they’re absolutely wonderful. They are truly the reason I can write at all. I’m grateful because without their help I couldn’t do it.
You have two older daughters at home, as well. Do you rely on them for help?
No, actually, I really try not to. I wouldn’t want to expect that of them. That’s not the way my mother handled it with me. I was the oldest of seven children, and yet my mother made a tremendous effort to preserve a sense of childhood for me, to protect that space and freedom that is unique to childhood. She did not want to burden me with maternal responsibilities.
She didn’t want you to be a “little mother”?
Right. She really didn’t. I mean, of course I helped out, that’s what you do. But it wasn’t the expectation that I would take on the mothering role while I was still growing up myself. And I’m really glad for that. It gave me the freedom to explore and to have other experiences. It allowed me to discover what I really wanted to do. I was blessed to have so much freedom as a child. I had a fascinating childhood, and I recognize with some sadness that today children don’t often experience such freedom growing up.
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