Rome, 9 May 2024 – His modern noir Iliad, according to him, is over. City in Ruins (HarperCollins) will be his last novel. Until proven otherwise. From the slums of Providence to the corridors of power of Washington and Wall Street, up to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, Don Winslow builds yet another kaleidoscope of tragic heroes, love and hate, ambition and desperation, revenge and compassion. Pure distillation of real life. Tomorrow the American writer will be at the Turin Book Fair, Saturday in Mestre, Sunday in Brescia and Monday in Milan, at the Iulm University, to talk to readers about the “rubble of America”.
Danny Ryan, Art Keller, Frankie Machine: all fighting, poised between evil and good to defend the supreme good, often the family. What does modern Western man have to fight for?
“The struggle has always been the same, hasn’t it? Humanity – and not only in the West – has had to fight for freedom, democracy, dignity and the right to a dignified life. That struggle continues today and in near future. More specifically, I think the central question in most detective novels is “how do you live decently in a dirty world?” This is what most of my characters struggle to do.
You have always advocated the fight without ifs and buts against Trump and “Trumpism”. Will Biden win? Do you see Trump emulators in Europe? Is democracy and the Western world really at stake as it has been so far?
“I think Biden will win, but there is a possible path to victory for Trump, so we absolutely cannot give up. It would be presumptuous to comment on Europe because I don’t think I have adequate knowledge to speak with much legitimacy. But I think democracy is in danger around the world, as we witness the rise of authoritarian governments and right-wing social movements.”
How do you explain your extraordinary and lasting success as a writer?
“Well, first of all, thank you for that. I’ve had a better career than I ever dreamed of, and I’m very grateful to life for that. I like to think that my readers stay with me because I write good stories with strong characters and interesting topics, which I can take them into worlds they couldn’t otherwise enter and show them those worlds from the inside, from the characters’ points of view.”
How do you plan to use your following of readers and followers to change reality for the better?
“Continuing to do what I’ve been doing: commenting on social media and, with my partner Shane Salerno (writer, producer, director and creative director of The Story Factory, ed.), producing the videos that have so far garnered over 300 million views We will continue to try to motivate the anti-Trump base, persuade undecided voters, and even give Trump supporters reasons not to vote for a traitor.”
What relationship does it have with social media and more generally with the virtual world?
“Beyond social comments and videos, I have very little connection with the virtual realm. I tend to prefer real reality…”.
Being an artist, even more so if a writer, today: aren’t only cowards taking sides or can it also be a legitimate choice to write without reference to current events and avoid taking sides?
“I believe that the only absolute responsibility a writer has is to write well. If a writer chooses not to take sides, that is his choice, it is legitimate and I would never call it cowardly. Some of us, however, have made a different, equally legitimate choice. In my case, because of the topics I often write about – drug trafficking, the opioid epidemic, mass incarceration, immigration – I felt it was up to me to do something beyond narrative fiction”.
What remains of movements like MeeToo and BlackLivesMatter in the US? What role do you think they had in the development of American society? Do schools do enough to create better citizens?
“These movements have caused serious changes in the social fabric and in the way we perceive racial and gender issues, so their influence continues. In terms of citizenship education, no, schools are not doing enough. We don’t really teach citizenship anymore. civics and then we wonder why our citizens don’t understand the Constitution. On a broader front, we no longer really teach music, art and literature, and then we wonder why society has become so crude.”
Are you afraid of climate change?
“Yes, of course. I always see it in rising oceans and strange weather patterns.”
Do you see glimmers of hope on the horizon? If yes, in what?
“It’s funny: I get asked this question a lot lately. Why do we feel so hopeless? On the political front, we should remind ourselves that we won the last two elections: people act as if we lost. On the economic front, even if we still have inflation, it is decreasing and the unemployment rate is at an all-time low. Of course, things may seem terrible, but what is the point of a suicide pact?
It could be your last tour for a new book here: what do you think of Italy in general and Milan in particular?
“Beautiful country, beautiful city, beautiful people. I always enjoy being there…”.
