F2K Ep. 51 - Novelist Mike DeCapite

Fun 2 Know Podcast

On today's show, it's the second appearance of writer Mike DeCapite (previously on F2N Ep. 20), whose latest novel, JACKET WEATHER was published in late 2021 by Soft Skull Press, home to works from everyone from Dennis Cooper to Noam Chomsky. DeCapite is originally from Cleveland and the son of novelist Raymond DeCapite, a novelist whose well-reviewed work was first published in 1960. Mike DeCapite moved from Clevleand to Brooklyn in 1987 and moved in the circle around fellow Clevelanders Pere Ubu, the seminal art punk group. DeCapite's poetic fiction would be appear in various publications over the years and his naturalistic slices of life have always revealed a deep connection to music and has made fans of an impressive range artists of various backgrounds; JACKET WEATHER includes blurbs from filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, Sonic Youth bassist Lee Ranaldo and writer Lucy Sante. DeCapite's 1998 novel THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD drew raves for Mike's story of kicking around with small time gamblers in the city of Cleveland, an excerpt from Mike's unpublished follow-up RUINED FOR LIFE would appear along with his father's work in Harper's THE ITALIAN AMERICAN READER, and now JACKET WEATHER arrives, further refining DeCapite's anecdotal storytelling to a fine point. The novel centers around a relationship DeCapite begins with June, a figure of romantic interest DeCapite had known casually back in the 1980s where she was doing P.R. for Pere Ubu. Now decades later, DeCapite is taken a back by the strong attraction he feels to a woman extracting herself from a curdled relationship. With the lightest of touches across bite-sized chapters, DeCapite casts an alluring story of unsentimental optimism in the just-dimming light of middle-age. Publishers Weekly said: "Spare and lyrical . . . DeCapite has a poet’s eye for the city’s majestic details, and illustrates how his characters come to see the same things differently over the years . . . A worthwhile meditation." — from Kirkus Reviews: "So very real . . . A sad but sweet song about the uncertainty of middle age and how funny it is when time slips away." We try an keep things loose and casual of these Fun 2 Know interviews, so much so people often think I'm just interviewing friends, but here I actually AM interviewing one of my closest friends, although it has been decades since I hung with Mike after work every Monday in San Francisco, where Mike would serve some ambitious entrees and we'd talk movies, music and writing. The last time I talked to Mike was just before pandemic restrictions hit in 2020, now, three years later, Mike was in Philly to do a reading with Warhol biographer Victor Bockriss and we sat down at the kitchen table the following day to record this interview where we talk about JACKET WEATHER, seasonal memories, '90s Dylan, middle-aged love, writing about sex and divining renewed inspiration.