What is your go-to pen(cil)? Whatever’s within reach.
Most beautiful word in all the world: A word becomes beautiful to me only in the instant of its being situated in wanton relation to one or more other words.
Alter ego: Gary Lutz is my alter ego. My ulterior self gets an airing only rarely.
What’s for dinner? I have been dining at Burger King just about every day for the better part of three decades.
What’re you reading? After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie, by Jean Rhys, over and over.
Who is your most recent writer crush? Jean Rhys.
Song lyrics stuck in your head, go: “I’ve seen this happen in other people’s lives / And now it’s happening in mine.” (“That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore,” the Smiths)
You’re a new addition to the Crayola box. Congratulations. What is your new name? Submundane grey.
What are you putting off? Life and death, both.
What was the last gift you gave someone? My undivided attention.
What were you like as a college or graduate student? Stupid and mute.
Here’s your free ticket. Where are we going? Back to the ticket counter, to cash the thing in. I no longer stray beyond metropolic Pittsburgh.
Doodle:
Gary Lutz was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Their books include Stories in the Worst Way, Divorcer, and The Gotham Grammarian, all from Calamari Archive; Partial List of People to Bleach and Assisted Living (a chapbook), from Future Tense Books; and I Looked Alive, from Black Square Editions.
The Minnesota Review 