Joyce Maynard has been writing for 53 years. At 18, she landed on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, caught the eye of J.D. Salinger, and disappeared into a relationship that would define her for decades—until she finally told her story and was called a "predator" by Maureen Dowd. In this conversation, Joyce talks about being canceled before canceling was a thing, surviving as a Me Too survivor before Me Too became a movement, and why she returned to Yale at 65 only to discover she reads in the 17th percentile.
TIMELINE:
00:35 Being canceled before it was a thing
01:47 The New York Times Magazine cover story at 18
03:29 JD Salinger's letter and the beginning of their relationship
04:30 Moving in with Salinger and giving up Yale
05:39 Keeping the secret for 25 years
06:22 Writing "At Home in the World" and the backlash
08:26 When 18-year-olds dating 53-year-olds was "romantic"
09:41 The Charlie Rose interview (and what happened after)
10:27 Why the culture turned against her in 1998
11:23 Can you separate the artist from the art?
13:25 Teaching memoir to women in Guatemala
15:45 Writing family sagas and "How the Light Gets In"
16:31 Growing up in a problematic family
17:00 Mother's writing bootcamp from age 3
22:23 Including real-world events (Trump, January 6th) in fiction
24:09 Writing is not therapy or catharsis
29:43 Throwing away manuscripts that aren't good enough
30:08 Discovering ADHD at Yale at age 65
32:08 The D-minus French exam that changed everything
34:22 Reading in the 17th percentile
36:39 The gift of ADHD
40:39 "You cannot be a writer if you're not a reader" - and why that's wrong
41:48 Character-first vs. plot-first writing
43:33 Never knowing where the story will end (vs. John Irving)
44:18 No outlines - "outline is for a term paper"
46:22 Finding inspiration in news headlines
47:49 Why some stories are memoir and others are fiction
50:48 On sensitivity readers and the transgender character
51:44 When characters display "politically incorrect" attitudes
52:57 Fear of cancellation from the left
53:29 Trigger warnings at Yale and the softening of everything