Make Way for Luxe Lit
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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 9/24/2008 2:10:00 PM
There’s renewed interest in Cecily von Ziegesar’s "Gossip Girl" books (Little, Brown) now that an audio version of her first book accompanies the recent DVD release of the Gossip Girl television series. SLJ caught up with von Ziegesar to discuss her books, her life, and the new Luxe Lit genre that her books have spawned.
Looking back on your life before "Gossip Girl," would you consider yourself a reluctant young adult author?
I literally fell into writing for teens. In graduate school I was writing poetry! I never imagined myself as a young adult author. What began as a project has turned into a career.
Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence is one of your favorite books. Did it influence your writing?
Yes, it is one of my favorite books. It was the model for my first book. In the Age of Innocence Madame Olenska returns to New York City with a secret past. This is similar to Serena coming back onto the scene. Both characters find a tangled love triangle upon their return. I thought it was an appropriate model. It shows how modern life parallels literary stories. I enjoy placing challenging literary references into my books. I have referenced Goethe hoping that it will encourage my readers to find out who he was. I want my books to be both literary and readable.
You’ve been called the “Bard of Nastiness.” Is that an accurate description of your writing?
Hmm, I haven’t ever heard that one. Funny, lots of the nastiness is wit. The dressing down is for comic relief. These characters are celebrities in their own world. We all talk about each other. It is fun; I guess it is really part of human nature.
You’ve chronicled life on the Upper East Side of New York City but you live in Brooklyn. Why is that?
Well actually, I never have lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I grew up on the Upper West Side, which at the time was a quiet, low-key neighborhood. I never felt I was part of the Upper East Side. It fascinated me but I was never comfortable there. I never even thought of raising my family there.
It’s hard to believe that you’re a mother of two. Does mommyhood mix well with the Gossip Girls?
I have been a mother since a few months before the first book was published. People think of me as “Forever 21.” I love being a “Park Slope Mommy” (a neighborhood in Brooklyn). Meeting up with other moms and talking about breastfeeding, etc. It is great that my kids see that I have a life. I am proud of being involved with my children’s life and having one of my own. It’s hard to do it.
Are you involved with the television series?
Last year I was on the set often. I like all the actors and was swept away by all those 20-year-olds. When they started to call me “ma’am” I knew it was time to separate.
Can the "Gossip Girl" series be used as a guide for reputation management?
That’s an interesting thought. The teenage world has changed since the inception of the first "Gossip Girl" book in 2002. Everyone is now the celebrity of their own reality show via Facebook or MySpace. Sometimes one creates scandal for the sake of creating scandal. It all has its consequences.
