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The Last Spirits of Manhattan is pretty direct in two respects: the novel has ghosts at a cocktail party (hence two kinds of spirits) and it’s set in Manhattan. “Last” is the tricky word; are these the final spirits or the latest spirits? I’d like to leave that to the reader. The title wasn’t always so directly informative; for a long time, it was called The Direction of Rented Spirits. Direction was a play on both film directors, since the party is hosted by Alfred Hitchcock, and the life-changing choices confronting the characters. What direction are they heading? Rented played on the idea that the house where the party happened was an old rowhouse rented for the evening by Hitchcock—and rented in the sense of torn. There are lots of emotional scars on these ghosts. The published title is more informative, though I was sad to see the play on rented and direction go, but last gives it...[read on]
Q&A with John A. McDermott.
--Marshal Zeringue