The Chicken Sisters | KJ Dell’Antonia | NPT
Season 6 Episode 6 | 2m 30sVideo has Closed Captions
KJ Dell’Antonia talks with Mary Laura Philpott about her debut novel, THE CHICKEN SISTERS.
“It was really important to me to show two aspects of living in a small town, especially as a young person. That desperate desire to get out and the amazing reasons that you realize, especially when you get a little bit older, why it’s wonderful to be there in the first place.” KJ Dell’Antonia talks with NPT host Mary Laura Philpott about her debut novel, THE CHICKEN SISTERS.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
A Word on Words is a local public television program presented by WNPT
The Chicken Sisters | KJ Dell’Antonia | NPT
Season 6 Episode 6 | 2m 30sVideo has Closed Captions
“It was really important to me to show two aspects of living in a small town, especially as a young person. That desperate desire to get out and the amazing reasons that you realize, especially when you get a little bit older, why it’s wonderful to be there in the first place.” KJ Dell’Antonia talks with NPT host Mary Laura Philpott about her debut novel, THE CHICKEN SISTERS.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(typewriter typing) (typewriter bar slides) (typewriter dings) - [KJ] Hi, I'm KJ Dell'Antonia, and this is "The Chicken Sisters," a story about two small town sisters, and the reality TV competition they managed to turn into a proxy for their constant battle over who made the right life choices.
(mellow music) - [Interviewer] Why was it important to make these characters not just chicken restaurant foes, but family?
- You know, rival restaurants are great and all that, but they had to be family to really fight, I think.
(laughs) (mellow music) - What is it about the reality TV world that provides such a great structure for storytelling?
- [KJ] Oh, it's perfect for storytelling because you can have someone right there in the book trying to push the story in different directions.
So in my book, I have the character of the producer slash host.
I blended them into one, and she is really manipulating the people around her to get the very best story.
And hey, that's what we want as readers too, right?
The very best story.
So to have your characters, not just sort of making bad or challenging choices because of their own fears and beliefs, but to have someone actually going, "Yeah.
Why not?
Why not?
You should absolutely do that thing!"
That is really helpful from a novelist perspective.
(mellow music) - What is your taste as a reader?
I'm curious as to whether you set out to write the type of book that you like to read.
- I like to wanna spend time with the characters in a book that I'm reading.
And I really like to be able to see them evolve.
Like I like to watch them changing.
And I know that in life often things happen to us, and we do not change or improve, and we do not get a satisfying ending.
I don't really need that in my books - [Interviewer] For me more of my conversation with KJ Dell'Antonia, visit awordonwards.org and keep reading.
- [KJ] It was really important to me to show two aspects of living in a small town, that desperate desire to get out, and the amazing reasons that you realize, especially, when you get a little bit older why it's wonderful to be there in the first place.
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A Word on Words is a local public television program presented by WNPT