Meredith O’Brien
Meredith O’Brien, a former newspaper reporter and investigative journalist, is the author of four books. She teaches journalism and writing in Massachusetts, where she also roots for her beloved Red Sox. Meredith lives in the Boston area with her husband and their loud, goofy dogs.
Instagram: @MeredithOBrien
Facebook: @MeredithOBrienauthor
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
For this particular book, I watched a number of films that focused on father-adult child dynamics (like an adaptation of King Lear and the film The Father) as well as substance abuse (Beautiful Boy and Ben is Back) so I could better understand the father’s addiction to alcohol and his girlfriend’s drug addiction.
As far as structure, I was influenced by both the book and film versions of Where’d You Go Bernadette, The Girl on the Train, and Gone Girl.
Tonally, I was influenced by both the book and film version of This is Where I Leave You.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I started my professional writing career in a noisy newsroom where phones were ringing, people were loudly talking, and the police scanners were loud.
However, these days, I prefer to play instrumental jazz as I write and edit my work. If I play music with lyrics, I wind up singing along with them.
Favorite non-reading activity?
I love watching sports, like the Boston Red Sox, the Liverpool Football Club, and professional hoops (NBA & WNBA). My husband and I regularly go to Fenway Park for Sox games.
Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
I am particularly fond of art that makes points and commentary about social issues and history.
I like photography, how artists capture shadows and moments and unexpected emotions. I especially enjoyed the “Kitchen Table” series by Carrie Mae Weems and the recent “Frank Stewart’s Nexus: An American Photographer’s Journey, 1960s to the Present.”
I was incredibly moved by a retrospective of Philip Guston’s Depression-World War II-era paintings which cast a harsh light on how society ignored or simply lived alongside lethal hatreds. I also spent a lot of time admiring the portraits of the Obamas, Kehinde Wiley’s of President Obama and Amy Sherald’s of Michelle Obama.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
What a great question! I thought about it for a while and came up with a category of clothing: my t-shirts. They speak for me, of the things I love, of the things for which I hope, of the things I want to remember. I have UMass t-shirts from the days when I attended school there and met my husband, and when we traveled to follow the men’s basketball team during their amazing run in the 1990s. I have UMass shirts from the days when my two sons attended, the third generation of my family to be in the UMass family. (I also have Boston College tees when my daughter broke from the pack and became an Eagle.) I have Boston Red Sox shirts, so many which dated from 2004, when the team broke its 86-year World Series drought. Shirts for political causes or candidates. The shirts tell different chapters of my life.
