Nina Revoyr discusses her book, “The Age of Dreaming.” She begins by sharing the plot of her novel, which follows the character Jun Nakayama. Jun was a silent film star during the early days of Hollywood. Yet by 1964 he is living in total obscurity; that is until a writer named Nick Bellinger tracks him down for an interview. Bellinger reveals that he has written a screenplay with Jun in mind. Jun is intrigued by the idea of returning to film, but he worries that his return might lead people to delve too deeply into his past. Revoyr goes on to discuss the anti-Japanese sentiment that ran rampant in California prior to World War II. Revoyr explains how the racial issues of the time period play into the plot and characterization in her novel. She shares how she also explores the racial stereotypes and limitations that effects Jun in the novel and the negative reactions of the Japanese American community to Jun’s successful career. Later in the interview, Revoyr shares how she developed the novel’s plot and how she almost decided to stop writing when she ran into difficulty getting her second book, “Southland,” published.
Los Angeles (Calif.) - History - 20th century - Fiction Murder - Fiction Silent films - Fiction Motion picture industry - History - Fiction Motion picture actors and actresses - Fiction Japanese Americans - Fiction
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