Neighbor Adam Sternbergh On His Newest Spademan Novel, Why Ditmas Park Would Be Just Fine After A Dirty Bomb & Dreaming Of Opening A Bookstore In The Neighborhood

Neighbor Adam Sternbergh, a contributing editor at New York magazine and Vulture, and the former culture editor of The New York Times Magazine, is celebrating the launch of his second novel, “Near Enemy,” which just came out this week, tonight at BookCourt. Before this evening’s shindig, we wanted to chat with Adam about his life in Ditmas Park, where he lives with his wife and daughter, writing, and his new book, which is the second in a series about a hitman navigating a New York City in which a dirty bomb has left Times Square radioactive, the rich live in a virtual reality, and the poor (read: everyone else who hasn’t moved to New Jersey) are scrambling to make ends meet on the streets.

First off, congratulations on the new book! For our readers who don’t already know, your first novel, “Shovel Ready,” and your newest book, “Near Enemy,” which came out this week, center around the garbageman-turned-hitman Spademan in a dystopian New York City. What would Spademan think of Ditmas Park? And how would Ditmas Park fare in this dystopia? Radioactive drink specials at Sycamore?

Thanks! Actually, I think Ditmas Park would fare very well for many of the same reasons it fares well now — it’s an attractive oasis from some of the more chaotic and inhospitable regions of the city like, say, Times Square. (As for Spademan, he’s very partial to Jersey, his home state.) In the books, part of the premise is that a dirty-bomb explosion in Times Square has completely killed off the tourist industry and rendered a large chunk of Manhattan inhospitable — with a kind of toxic urban decay creeping out in concentric circles from there. Thankfully — as I remind myself every single day — Ditmas Park is many, many concentric circles away from Times Square.

So, “Shovel Ready” came out last year, “Near Enemy” came out this week, and you and your wife had a baby (another congratulations!) less than a year ago? Do you just hook yourself up to an IV of caffeine? Where are your favorite spots in the neighborhood you go to do so?

The timing of the book releases makes it seem like they appeared out of thin air, but I’d already written the first book when I sold it in 2012. “Shovel Ready” didn’t come out for another year and half — during which time I worked on the second book and, incidentally, moved to Ditmas Park from Prospect Heights. Then, in another bit of curious timing, the first book was published eight days after our first daughter was born. So… that was a hectic week. As to caffeination: I’m kind of a chug-a-whole-pot-then-coast-until-sundown coffee drinker, so I avoid working in cafes. I actually do a lot of work at the Ditmas Workspace, which has proved to be a really great resource for me and my wife, Julia May Jonas (who’s also a writer).

Speaking of your daughter, do you think having her has changed your writing at all?

The second novel, “Near Enemy,” which I worked on before our daughter was born but while we were expecting, is definitely baby-haunted, if that’s the right term. As it happens, in “Shovel Ready” there’s a character who’s pregnant — so it only made sense that, in the sequel, there should be a baby. (It’s the theory of Chekhov’s Baby Bump.) There’s even a diaper-changing scene, which I wrote before I’d ever really changed a diaper. Then I went back and rewrote the scene for accuracy, once I had first-hand experience.

After growing up in Toronto, when did you move to Ditmas Park – and why? What do you love about the neighborhood? Are there places around here that you’ll go to get the creative juices flowing?

It’s funny you mention Toronto — the city Jane Jacobs eventually fell in love with — because in many ways it’s very similar to Ditmas Park, which we’ve lived in for nearly two years now. Even in downtown Toronto, you’re never far from a tree-lined street with standalone houses, for example, and it’s also a very diverse city in a way that feels natural and integrated — a quality I also appreciate around here. Toronto is often referred to as “livable,” which I never really understood (or appreciated) until I moved to New York. I’ve lived elsewhere in Brooklyn but I think it’s no coincidence that Ditmas and my favorite parts of Toronto share so many characteristics.

Did you always want to be a writer? Having experienced being both a journalist and a novelist, is there one you like more than the other?

I was writing entire “Battlestar Galactica” episodes in pencil in notebooks when I was about ten years old so, yeah, I think it’s fair to use the word “always.” As to journalism, my favorite aspect of that job is being granted access to different worlds you might otherwise never get a glimpse of — in fact, I just wrote an essay for Wired about how a journalistic assignment that took me to a 3D virtual-reality simulator deeply influenced my subsequent writing (and kind of blew my mind). But for me, you can’t beat the freedom of fiction. The ability to turn a blank page into an entire imagined world is a miracle. Super frustrating and disheartening at times, but occasionally, sporadically miraculous.

We’ve had a lot of fun talking to authors who live in the neighborhood, and there are so many of you pen-wielding folk that we can’t help but push for the Ditmas Park Book Festival. Since you’re already not sleeping, what do you say – want to start that?

Yes! We can start by luring a really good neighborhood bookstore to these parts. I’ve personally proselytized to many farflung stores, from BookCourt in Cobble Hill to Word in Greenpoint to Community Bookstore in Park Slope (and their outpost in Windsor Terrace) about what an undeniably fantastic idea it would be for them to open an outpost here. I also have a weird fantasy of opening a co-op non-profit bookstore, but… that may have to wait.

The “Near Enemy” book launch is today, January 14, at BookCourt – what can people who go to it expect to happen? It seems like your main character already has such a following that people will show up in Team Spademan shirts. Or is that too anti-antihero to do that?

In addition to a short reading, there’s a Q&A and discussion which, in my experience, is only as lively as the people in attendance. (There’s also free wine, which helps with the liveliness quotient.) My wife wrote a pretty great admonition about book launches on Facebook, which I’ll steal from here: “It really really matters to the writer. It’s the one time they get to connect with people. They shower and choose their outfit and everything. Also they are fun, brief and have free wine pretty much 100% of the time.” All very true.

You’re also going to speaking about anti-heroes at a panel discussion at McNally Jackson on January 27. Besides Spademan, who are some of your favorite anti-heroes?

In part to insure the aforementioned lively discussion, I corralled three very smart people — A.O. Scott, the film critic for the Times; Emily Nussbaum, the TV critic for The New Yorker, and Megan Abbott, a fantastic, award-winning crime writer — to chew this issue over with me, which should be tons of fun. I will be representing the pro-anti-hero side. (That’s right: I am pro-anti.) I love all anti-heroes, from Philip Marlowe to Bugs Bunny to Wolverine to Walter White. I think the anti-heroic tradition is one of the most interesting strains in American pop culture.

We totally can’t let this interview end without asking – does anyone get it on with Chewbacca in “Near Enemy,” as happens in your first book? And can you go to a dinner party without people asking about said sexy time with Chewie?

I really can’t discuss the intimate affairs of Chewbacca, lest he visit his wrath upon me. I can say this: One element of the books is a virtual-reality realm where people can enact their most bizarre fantasies (ergo the Wookiee Nookie in “Shovel Ready”). While I can’t guarantee an appearance by Chewbacca, these bizarre liaisons do persist in “Near Enemy.”

Last question – we promise! What can you tell us about the next Spademan novel? Can we expect him to be traipsing around Cortelyou?

The Ditmas Park/Kensington/Midwood neighborhood very nearly made a significant cameo in “Near Enemy,” and I can pretty much guarantee it will show up in whatever comes next. One of the great things about New York is that it’s dotted with these ridiculously mythic-sounding settings — I mean, we have a huge garbage dump called Fresh Kills! You can’t make that up. Every nook and cranny of New York is so intriguing to me — and if you write thrillers about a post-apocalyptic hit man and you don’t find a way to work in a place called “Gravesend,” you pretty much need to have your thriller-writing license revoked.

If you’d like to meet Adam and hear him talk about “Near Enemy,” you can attend tonight’s book launch at 7pm at BookCourt (163 Court Street). To find out more information, go here.