joyce carol oates is the author. ms. oates, we don't often have novelists on booktv on c-span, but this is historical fiction in a sense, isn't it? >> oh, yes. >> how so? >> well, i did a tremendous amount of research, and that was the most pleasant part of the writing into princeton and vicinity in the years 1905 or '6 when woodrow wilson was president of princeton university. >> host: what was princeton like at that time? >> guest: well, princeton at that time, it's a kind offal goer call representation of affluent white, christian america in general and princeton is sort of an exemplary community. and woodrow wilson has a cameo in your book, doesn't he? >> guest: well, woodrow wilson is a principal character, he's in much of the novel, and in a sense, it's about wood wilson. he's confronted by a demon. he's tempted and -- well, i shouldn't say what happens, but he behaves quite nobly in the novel. but he does represent many of the shortcomings of people of his time such as he was a racist, and he was a sexist and othe

. >> joyce carol oates, do you have any ideas how many books you have sold? >> i have no idea. >> been him an award you have one? >> i don't sit around counting them. no, i don't. >> what is your writing process? >> i tried to write very early in the morning and i basically love to write. to meet it's very exciting. it's literally exciting to write. i feel that i'm organizing thoughts that may be implemented and chaotic, and funneling them to i like to create dramatic scenes. that novel has a lot of history but basically each chapter is a dramatic scene in often it's conversations between people. at the end of the chapter there's anything and then something else at the beginning. when the novel ends it really ends. there's a resolution and the ministry is explained in the last pages. >> has your writing changed in the last 40 years of? >> my writing has changed a lot. when i first began i had long paragraphs of narrative exposition, sort of describing things. now i have much more people talking, much more dialogue and they have monologues, people talking. i t

joyce carol oates is the author. we don't often have novelists on booktv on c-span but this is historical fiction in essence. spent i did a tremendous amount of research and that was the most pleasant turn of writing. woodrow wilson was president of princeton university. >> what was princeton like been? >> princeton at that time and it's kind of -- a representation of affluent and white christian america generally and princeton is sort of an exemplary community spent woodrow wilson has a cameo in your book speak with woodrow wilson is a principal character in. the novel is about woodrow wilson. is confronted by a demon. he's tempted. i shouldn't say what happens but he becomes quite noble in the novel but he doesn't rub that many of the shortcomings of people at the time such as he was a racist. he was a sexist and probably his most principled was he thought he was anointed by god,. >> to what? >> be a leader. he was annoyed by god. i don't think it's not uncommon for people to feel, politician and statesman. spin wi

joyce carol oates is the ar.

. >> host: we can characterize authors like to give the brand as joyce carol oates or a novelist or historian. can you characterize pellets the same way? >> guest: plenty of poets write in other genres. you might also call me a nonfiction writer because i have a book of nonfiction but i am thinking about something my southern predecessor said and that is the historical cynicism, the poetic sense shouldn't be seen as contradictory because if poetry is the little myths that we make, then history is the big myths that we live and in our living constantly remake and so for me that suggests there are lots of links between the different genres 11 though we may call someone a poet or non paula, i feel i am someone for whom the historical sense always animates the work that i do. >> host: where did you grow up? >> guest: i moved to georgia later on. >> host: why and when did you start writing poetry? >> guest: i wrote poems peer leon. my father might say even sooner than i will tell you. in the third grade my earliest memory of writing poems happen then. i was riding in a class and had a teacher who