bateman-novak

<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/interviews/nostalgia-desire-joanna-novaks-must/"></div><p><em>I was in a writing workshop with JoAnna Novak at Washington University in St. Louis in 2007. As I recall, she was writing prose about movies, and I thought her prose was so inventive that I told her she should be a poet. She later got an MFA in poetry (probably not thanks to my encouragement), which I think is integral to the often lyrical prose of her newly released novel, </em>I Must Have You<em>. The novel is about the relationships between three women living with or recovering from eating disorders: two teens, Elliott and Lisa, and Elliott’s mother Anna. Elliott is a young diet coach who publishes a “thinspo” (thinspiration) zine for her clients. Lisa was her favorite client, but is now recovering from anorexia as she also explores a relationship with a 19-year-old drug dealer, the same one Elliott’s mother is having an affair with. The novel explores the intersections and divergences of desire and control with a 1990s-laden prose so compelling that you’d think Novak was the highly literary child of Amy Heckerling. </em> <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/interviews/nostalgia-desire-joanna-novaks-must/#more-4870" class="more-link">Read more</a></p>
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Nostalgia and Desire in Joanna Novak&#8217;s <em>I Must Have You</em>

Nostalgia and Desire in Joanna Novak&#8217;s I Must Have You

Micah Bateman is a Ph.D. student in English at the University of Texas at Austin, where he serves as Assistant Director of the New Writers Project M.F.A. program and edits for <i>Bat City Review</i>.