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WORK TITLE: The Reminders
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1979
WEBSITE: http://valemmich.com/
CITY: Jersey City
STATE: NJ
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://valemmich.com/about/ * http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1589801/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
| LC control no.: | no2017071259 |
|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/no2017071259 |
| HEADING: | Emmich, Val |
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| 040 | __ |a ICrlF |b eng |e rda |c ICrlF |d DLC |
| 053 | _0 |a PS3605.M565 |
| 100 | 1_ |a Emmich, Val |
| 370 | __ |e Jersey City (N.J.) |2 naf |
| 371 | __ |m info@valemmich.com |
| 372 | __ |a Fiction |a Music |a Acting |2 lcsh |
| 374 | __ |a Authors |a Singers |a Composers |a Actors |2 lcsh |
| 375 | __ |a Men |2 lcsh |
| 377 | __ |a eng |
| 670 | __ |a Emmich, Val. The reminders, ©2017: |b t.p. (Val Emmich) About the author page (Val Emmich is a writer, singer-songerwriter, and actor, lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his wife and two children) |
| 670 | __ |a His website, May 26, 2017 |b (Val Emmich can be contacted at info@valemmich.com) |
PERSONAL
Born 1979 in Manalapan, NJ; married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Rutgers University, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Musician. Actor in “Vinyl,” “30 Rock,” “The Big C,” and “Ugly Betty.”
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Val Emmich is a musician, actor, and writer. Emmich was born in Manalapan, New Jersey in 1979 and raised in New Jersey. He received his B.A. from Rutgers University. After graduation he was offered a record deal with Sony/Epic. He has produced a dozen albums and has toured the U.S. numerous times.
As an actor, Emmich has had roles on “Vinyl,” “30 Rock,” “The Big C,” and “Ugly Betty.” He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his wife and two children.
Emmich’s debut novel tells the story of the unexpected bond between 10-year-old Joan Lennon Sully and Los Angeles-based Gavin Winters. Joan lives in Jersey City with her parents and has an odd genetic quirk: her memory never stops working. Because of her highly superior autobiographical memory, or HSAM, she can remember every detail from her life, from the moment her pet was put to sleep, to every reason she has ever had to cry.
Joan understands that most people do not have her ability. She knows that other people forget things, and Joan does not want to be forgotten. She sees her chance for a sort of immortality when she comes across an ad for the “Next Great Songwriter Contest” in her local newspaper. If she can just win this contest with an original song, she reasons, the song, and the memory of Joan, will live on forever.
Gavin Winters, pursuing his television acting career in Los Angeles, is in the midst of debilitating heartbreak. His partner, Sydney, has recently died unexpectedly. Gavin is not handling the news well. In a moment of grief-stricken passion, he decides to set fire to all of the possessions in his home that reminds him of Sydney. As this happens, a neighbor films his tirade. Gavin has a successful television career, and an embarrassing video going public means embarrassing publicity. Gavin decides to avoid public humiliation and hopefully escape his grief by moving in with college friends Paige and Ollie, Joan’s parents, in Jersey City. Paige and Ollie introduced Gavin and Sydney, and welcome their grieving friend in with open arms.
When Gavin arrives at her home in Jersey City, Joan sees an opportunity. If Gavin helps her write a song for the “Next Great Songwriter Contest,” she will be more likely to win. The two characters strike a deal. If Gavin helps Joan write the song, Joan agrees to recount every memory she has of Sydney to him. While she has only spent a small amount of time with Joan, in the handful of times she has come out to visit Paige and Ollie, Gavin is grateful for anything.
The two characters are contrasted in their relationships to memory. Joan remembers everything, while Gavin both seeks to forget that which causes him pain, while also wanting to hold onto every memory he has of Sydney. The narrative of the story jumps between Joan’s and Gavin’s perspectives. Melissa Norstedt in Booklist wrote, “at times, this is successful, the friendship is believable, and their voices are strong. In other moments, their connection feels forced, and the characters lose focus, especially Joan.”
As the characters’ bond develops, Gavin is initially comforted by Joan’s recollections. However, as Joan reveals more of her memories of Sydney, it becomes clear that Sydney may have been hiding secrets from Gavin. As the novel progresses, both characters find truths, both painful and uplifting, that allow them to heal and accept their various struggles.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews wrote, “overwhelmingly tender, sometimes verging on saccharine, the novel gets by on its profoundly likable pair of leading characters: what the book lacks in bite, it makes up for in charm.”
BIOCRIT
ONLINE
Aquarian Weekly, http://www.theaquarian.com (May 31, 2017), John Pfeiffer, review of The Reminders.
Daily Beast, https://www.thedailybeast.com (June 11, 2017), review of The Reminders.
Frost Magazine, http://www.frostmagazine.com (August 10, 2017), Catherine Balavage, review of The Reminders.
Largehearted Boy, http://www.largeheartedboy.com (May 30, 2017), review of The Reminders.
New Jersey OnLine, http://www.nj.com (May 32, 2017), Jim Testa, review of The Reminders.
NPR, http://www.npr.org (May 28, 2017), Lulu Garcia-Navarro, author interview.
Pop Sugar, https://www.popsugar.com (October 17, 2017), Tara Block, review of The Reminders.
Scroll.in, https://scroll.in (July 23, 2017), Sayali Palekar, review of The Reminders.*
"WhAT DO YOU DO?"
It's the question I fear most. I never know how to answer. I do lots of things. Or more to the point, I make a living doing lots of different things. For that, I feel very lucky.
I started playing music and writing songs when I was fifteen. After graduating Rutgers University, I got my first record deal with Sony/Epic. Since then, I've released more than a dozen albums as a singer-songwriter and toured the U.S. several times over. The Star-Ledger very kindly proclaimed me “one of the finest songwriters in the Garden State, [and] also one of the most prolific.”
I've also been acting since I was eighteen. I’ve had roles on Vinyl (HBO), 30 Rock (NBC), The Big C (Showtime) and Ugly Betty (ABC) and been featured in a bunch of commercials.
Last but not least, I write fiction. My debut novel, The Reminders, was published in 2017 by Little, Brown in the U.S./Canada and by a dozen other publishers abroad. It has also been optioned for a film.
I live in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Val Emmich
Biography
Showing all 6 items
Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (2) | Spouse (1)
Overview (3)
Born 1979 in Manalapan, New Jersey, USA
Birth Name Val Matthew Emmich
Height 5' 10" (1.78 m)
Mini Bio (2)
Dubbed a "Renaissance Man" by the New York Post, Val Emmich has had recurring roles on HBO's 'Vinyl' (produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger and created by 'Boardwalk Empire' show runner Terence Winter), Showtime's "The Big C,"and prime time ABC shows 'Ugly Betty' and 'Cashmere Mafia.' His memorable guest role as Tina Fey's coffee-boy fling, Jamie, on NBC's '30 Rock' sparked a new saying, "Gay For Jamie." He also played the lead role in the feature indie film 'Fighting Fish' and over the years has been featured in dozens of prominent commercials. Emmich is also a singer-songwriter who's released a dozen albums and toured the U.S. several times over. The Star-Ledger called him "one of the finest songwriters in the Garden State, [and] also one of the most prolific." Lastly, he writes fiction. His debut novel will be published by Little, Brown in 2017. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Joe Grassadonio
Dubbed a "Renaissance Man" by the New York Post, Val Emmich has had recurring roles on HBO's 'Vinyl' (produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger and created by 'Boardwalk Empire' show runner Terence Winter), Showtime's "The Big C,"and prime time ABC shows 'Ugly Betty' and 'Cashmere Mafia.' His memorable guest role as Tina Fey's coffee-boy fling, Jamie, on NBC's '30 Rock' sparked a new saying, "Gay For Jamie." He also played the lead role in the feature indie film 'Fighting Fish' and over the years has been featured in dozens of prominent commercials. Emmich is also a singer-songwriter who's released a dozen albums and toured the U.S. several times over. The Star-Ledger called him "one of the finest songwriters in the Garden State, [and] also one of the most prolific." Lastly, he writes fiction. His debut novel will be published by Little, Brown in 2017. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Victoria Thompson
Spouse (1)
Jill (? - present)
Val Emmich on Writing ‘The Reminders,’ His New Jersey Inspirations & More
Val Emmich Press Photo
Photo Credit: Holtz Photography
Val Emmich, a New Jersey singer-songwriter, actor, and as of June, published novelist, knows better than most what it means to channel life into art. His debut novel, The Reminders, which focuses on a ten-year-old girl’s unlikely friendship with a grown man who has just lost his partner, asserts the importance of music—a tool for grieving, for healing, for friendship and love.
We talked about our shared home state, what it’s like to balance multiple artistic endeavors, and the impetus behind The Reminders. “There’s something about art that sustains us, and in that way–because we always keep it in our world, and we remember it, and we pass it on–that must account for something,” Emmich said, as our conversation wound down. “That must mean there’s some value in it. It can’t just be a selfish.” He read a Kurt Vonnegut quote before we hung up: “The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable.”
Enjoy his thoughtful responses, and be sure to pick up a copy of The Reminders, available online or at your local bookstore.
Let’s talk a little bit about your writing background. Was fiction always something that interested you?
If I follow the trail it’s pretty clear that I was always interested in fiction but I didn’t realize that until I finally started sitting down and trying to write it. I’ve always been a big reader. I’d write little short stories when I was younger. I took creative writing in college. I was just dipping my toes in here and there.
In 2007, I just woke up one day, and was just like, “I’m writing a novel!” and my wife was like, “What?” I know that’s so ridiculous, and it did sound ridiculous, but I stuck with it. And I was serious. And I wrote that novel, and it stunk. And I wrote a second novel and it also stunk, but a little less. The Reminders is my third attempt and it’s been ten years of trying.
During these early novels, and even during The Reminders, was your process very insular? Were you sharing your work with a lot of people?
I think I made the mistake early on of sharing the stuff too early. I would let my wife read and then as I’d ask her to read more and more she, like, totally lost perspective I realized I had to work on it much longer before sharing it. I didn’t really have a community I could go to. I didn’t go to an MFA program, I didn’t have classmates, I didn’t have a writing group. I didn’t know any friends who wrote fiction, so I had a hard time.
Thinking back to college, we’d all read our stories aloud and critique them, and although it was frightening…You’re lucky to have people paying attention. But yeah, it’s been a small circle of people. Or just me and the computer. Which is both freeing, because it’s only up to me, but it’s a little terrible. Because I want help. [Laughs.]
Can you tell me how you came around to telling the story of The Reminders? Had you told different versions of this story in your past drafts of novels or was it a completely new idea?
It was completely new, but I think the mistakes I made with other books made this one go much more quickly. The first novel was what I think a lot of first-time novelists do, which is a poorly veiled autobiography, but that was okay. I just know that for my entire adult life, even when I was in school, and certainly after school, I just processed life through art. I’m a poor communicator when it comes to dialogue and for some reason really good at pushing it through some artistic expression, so I didn’t even think it was weird to have this new story to tell. I just went right into it.
At the time in 2013, my first daughter was just 18 months old, and I took her to Home Depot. I didn’t strap her into the shopping cart, and she fell out and landed on her head on this concrete floor, and I just freaked out. And I guess after all my training of ‘How do I turn this into art?,’ I just went right at it. Instead of being this sad thing, it was surprisingly really uplifting and I don’t know why that happened. Maybe it was because I needed that to happen.
You say that art has always been the way in which you process things, but I’m curious if different forms of art have to be put on the backburner, as you’re involved in so many forms. Were you actively working on music while you were writing?
I think my best stuff comes out in a burst. When I handed in one edit, I knew I wouldn’t be getting notes back for a while and I felt this real urge to make an album, so I did that. And I was also on this TV show during the writing of the book. I used to fight those things, think “I must be this right now.” My wife calls me a jack of all trades, master of none. It’s not a kind thing. [Laughs.] How good can you be at one thing? I often wonder if I should just dedicate myself to just one thing, but I think it helps me be less precious about each thing if I have this other area to go to for a while.
Val Emmich Press Photo 2
Photo Credit: Holtz Photography
When your head is in one story, sometimes you absorb life through the lens of that story. And that can become exhausting, and you can get lost in that forest and not know how to get out. So if I’m deep in the novel and I can get out and work on music, when I come back to the novel I can see it more clearly. I feel really lucky to have all these different things now, as I way not only to balance myself, but the art.
And since the book has to do with music, I was also working on a specific song, and thinking about music a lot and how its written. So that’s one of the other reasons that it seemed to pour out more than the first two. I was forcing the other ones, but [The Reminders] just seemed like I was writing about what I know, and it was more effortless.
Do you feel like there’s some similarity between your voice in the novel and your voice in music?
I think there’s a difference. Maybe an evolution? My mom and my mother-in-law both gave me the same comment after reading advanced copies of the book. I was really nervous because no one really had read the book, and they both said, “We’re were just surprised how…warm it was.” [Laughs.] I think my songs are probably more cynical and sorrowful. The outlooks are a little bleaker, and I think it’s okay. With a book, you’re spending years there, and I just felt like I needed a little optimism, and it wasn’t a conscious thing. I think becoming a father made me think, I need to find some hope for this thing, this life. Through my daughter’s eyes, I kept seeing a little bit of brightness. I hope people are ready for me to be a little more optimistic.
Do you feel eager to keep writing?
After doing it for this long, I think I’m terminally ill with the writing bug. I’ve already started another novel. I could see myself doing this for as long as I live because the control is in my hands and I’m already a loner of a person and I don’t mind sitting alone for hours and working on a story. That said, I also really need music in my life, and after this book tour I want to make music just to sort of cleanse myself before I really begin this other thing. It’s much more visceral and tactile. But I think it also informs the writing.
Are there writers you were reading or musicians you were listening to during the process? Are there artists out there right now that you find really inspiring?
I listened to a lot of Courtney Barnett, almost the entire time I wrote the book. I also listened to a lot of The National. The book is told from two perspectives, so I kind of used different songs for each of them.
I really like Steve Toltz, this Australian writer who has this real great sense of humor that I kept thinking about when writing this book. Why can’t books just be more of a joy, even when they’re deep and thoughtful? Joshua Ferris does this great domestic stuff, but he never looses his sense of humor.
Val Emmich Press Photo 3
Photo Credit: Holtz Photography
I was hoping that we could talk a little bit about New Jersey. I know in your novel your main character leaves LA for New Jersey and you live here. I’m wondering what it is that’s kept you here and what you feel are the specific qualities of New Jersey that have influenced you?
I would always come back here [after touring] and I felt like I had seen everywhere and now I just wanted to be here. I live in Jersey City where the bulk of the book takes place. I think it’s an interesting place because you see Manhattan, and you’re right there and you can enter it at any time, but you can get out of it too and see it more clearly. I also probably have this chip on my shoulder that New Jersey gets a bad rap nationwide and I feel some sense of pride that I stick it out.
I think it’s a place where there’s a lot right. There’s the beaches, the Pine Barrens. We have mountains, the suburbs, and these small-scale cities. There’s a lot to take in here. I just got back from a little vacation though, and it’s a bad time to ask me about New Jersey because when I got back here, I was like, “Oh, man, maybe I do want to leave.” There’s so many people. It does feel crowded.
Is there anything about the arts or music community here that’s inspired you?
I’m impressed by the variety of acts. The biggest names get the attention, but there’s all kind of music that comes from here. I mean, right now, this band Pinegrove is cool, from Montclair. Real Estate is great. Titus Andronicus. When I was going to school at Rutgers, Thursday was just playing in basement parties in New Brunswick. So we’ve always had great indie music that I’ve loved.
I’ve always felt that it wasn’t hard to find people that were in creative pursuits. Where I live now, people are all making livings doing these creative things and I feel inspired by that. I’m pretty sure you could find that in most places if you look hard enough. I do think that by feeling that the city was only a train ride away, it felt reachable. For your mindset, I think New Jersey in that regard felt like it wasn’t no where. It felt that it was close to somewhere.
–Megan West
Val Emmich’s novel, The Reminder is available at bookstores around the country. For more on Val, check out his website.
Emmich, Val: THE REMINDERS
Kirkus Reviews.
(June 1, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Emmich, Val THE REMINDERS Little, Brown (Adult Fiction) $26.00 5, 30 ISBN: 978-0-316-31699-6
Achingly sweet and unexpectedly nuanced, Emmich's clever debut follows the unlikely bond between a grief-stricken actor and a gifted 10-year-old girl in Jersey City.Joan Lennon Sully is a 10-year-old with a startling gift: she can remember, in exacting detail, everything that's ever happened to her. She knows how many times her mother has said "it never fails" in the past six months; she remembers the date and reason for every time she's ever cried (Wednesday, March 25, 2009: the day Pepper was put to sleep; Wednesday, May 15, 2013: the day Mrs. Dresden called time on a test before she was finished). But she knows most people do not have her memory; most people, she understands, forget things, and Joan Lennon does not want to be forgotten. So when she spots an ad in the paper for "The Next Great Songwriter Contest," she sees her answer: a good song is like a permanent reminder, she reasons. If she can win the Next Great Songwriter Contest with a Joan Lennon original, then she'll never be forgotten. She just needs to find the right collaborator--and that's where Gavin Winters comes in. An old friend of Joan's parents, Gavin is a successful actor in Los Angeles overwhelmed with grief after his partner Sydney's sudden death. After he has a very public breakdown (fire was involved), Joan's parents invite Gavin to take refuge with them in New Jersey, where he and Joan strike up an unusual deal: he'll help Joan with her song if, in return, Joan will recount her memories of Sydney, snapshots from his few visits to the family over the past several years. But what starts as a source of comfort for Gavin takes an unsettling turn when Joan unknowingly reveals details that force Gavin to contemplate the possibility that Sydney may have been keeping secrets of his own. Overwhelmingly tender, sometimes verging on saccharine, the novel gets by on its profoundly likable pair of leading characters: what the book lacks in bite, it makes up for in charm. Heartfelt and charming; a book that goes down easy.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Emmich, Val: THE REMINDERS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2017. PowerSearch,
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id=GALE%7CA493329062&it=r&asid=0686e5d76c0ec9bdf30e13a84b528113. Accessed 20 Oct. 2017.
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The Reminders
Melissa Norstedt
Booklist.
113.16 (Apr. 15, 2017): p20. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Reminders. By Val Emmich. May 2017.304p. illus. Little, Brown, $26 (9780316316996); e-book, $13.99 (9780316317016).
After the sudden death of his partner, heartbroken TV star Gavin Winters sets fire to every possession that reminds him of their relationship, while a neighbor secretly captures it all on film. Gavin decides to escape this embarrassing publicity and his own anguish by living with friends and their daughter, Joan. She is a rare child who recalls each detail of her life with photographic memory, and hates to be forgotten. Joan resolves to be remembered forever by writing the perfect song and convinces Gavin to help. They form an unlikely partnership; Joan remembers absolutely everything, and Gavin tries to forget it all. Debut novelist Emmich moves the story forward by alternating perspectives of these strikingly different characters. At times, this is successful, the friendship is believable, and their voices are strong. In other moments, their connection feels forced, and the characters lose focus, especially Joan. Overall, though, the story is charming and relatable, as each strives to overcome feelings of isolation and learns to trust in the support of friends.--Melissa Norstedt
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Norstedt, Melissa. "The Reminders." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2017, p. 20. PowerSearch,
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Emmich, Val. The Reminders
Beth Gibbs
Library Journal.
142.3 (Feb. 15, 2017): p73. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
* Emmich, Val. The Reminders. Little, Brown. May 2017.304p. ISBN 9780316316996. $26; ebk. ISBN 9780316317016. F
This adorable first novel alternates between two strangers who come together in a quirky way. Ten-year-old Joan lives in New Jersey; she has HSAM (highly superior autobiographical memory), which means she remembers every minute detail of her life. Gavin is a well-known actor in Los Angeles who has just lost the love of his life, Sydney. He is completely bereft and coming unhinged with grief. Joan's parents, Paige and Ollie, were college friends of Gavin, and introduced him to Sydney. They invite him to stay with them, in New Jersey. Joan, who is musical like her dad, and is in the midst of writing "the perfect song" for a local songwriting contest, decides that Gavin is her ideal cowriter. The two strike a deal. Joan tells Gavin her intricately detailed memories of Sydney in exchange for his songwriting help. Their growing friendship takes them on a few wild adventures, and eventually heals them both in heartfelt and unusual ways. Emmich captures the voices of Joan and Gavin, two such different characters, brilliantly. VERDICT Actor and musician Emmich (Vinyl; Ugly Betty; 30 Rock) can confidently add "novelist" to his list of achievements. He has written a quirky, touching, and addictive read. [See Prepub Alert, 11/14/16.]--Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC
Caption: A haunting look at today's China: another winner for Box: a quirky, touching, & addictive debut
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Gibbs, Beth. "Emmich, Val. The Reminders." Library Journal, 15 Feb. 2017, p. 73+.
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The Reminders
Publishers Weekly.
264.12 (Mar. 20, 2017): p52. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Reminders
Val Emmich. Little, Brown, $26 (304p) ISBN 978-0-316-31699-6
Emmich's quirky first novel tracks the developing friendship between 10-yearold Joan and 30- something Gavin as they unite to try to win a songwriting contest. Joan, who lives with her musician dad and teacher mom in urban New Jersey, is one of a few dozen people in the world with a condition called highly superior autobiographical memory, which means that she remembers everything that has ever happened to her and on what day. TV actor Gavin has just lost his partner, Sydney, to a heart attack. He flees California to grieve at the home of his college friends, Joan's parents, who are facing their own issues about finances and career choices. When Gavin learns that Joan has met Syd, they agree that he will help her write a song, and she will recall every meeting she had with Syd in detail. As Gavin listens, he must face a mystery about Syd's last few months. Told in the alternating voices ofjoan and Gavin, and illustrated with doodled line drawings from Joan's journal, the breezy novel raises intriguing questions about the nature of memory. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Reminders." Publishers Weekly, 20 Mar. 2017, p. 52. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps
/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA487601745&it=r& asid=263250ede36cfc1583441f6cf20644c0. Accessed 20 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487601745
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Shoreworld: Val Emmich – The Reminders – A Novel
—by John Pfeiffer, May 31, 2017
Val Emmich has worn many hats in the entertainment field. Songwriter, musician, actor and writer, Emmich pools real experience, imagination and a passion for excellence in everything he does. And while he has experimented with written word quite extensively, The Reminders is Emmich’s first foray into storytelling in novel form. Born partly of a truth and mostly of fiction and the wonderment of how certain people are never forgotten, The Reminders is the story of two unique individuals with memories and life feelings that cross over each other like a rhubarb pie covering.
Emmich tells the story of each character, in turn, beginning with 10-year-old Joan Lennon Sully. Waiting for her father to pick her up after school, Joan Lennon (named after the legendary John Lennon) waits patiently for her late father while school officials nervously check their watches. Once he finally shows up and gets her into the car, Joan notices a newspaper article that says “The Next Great Songwriter Contest” which starts this story on its way.
Joan is a budding musician that takes after her father, an established songwriter who has done OK in commercials and movies but has run into hard times and is looking to close his studio and join his father in the stable family business. Joan’s dream is to become a famous songwriter like John or Paul from the Beatles.
Joan’s mother had a childhood friend named Sydney. Sydney eventually met partner Gavin (an unsung television star), and the two begin their life together. After Sydney’s untimely passing, Gavin burns their memories and gains nationwide phone camera notoriety before heading to New Jersey to visit with friends and family. It is here that he meets young Joan.
Emmich’s skill at weaving multiple stories into one cohesive masterpiece comes alive on The Reminders. It is here that he pairs Joan and Gavin (Winters) as songwriting partners with Joan hoping to win the songwriting contest and change her life in return for her telling him all about the memories of Sydney that she remembers.
She remembers so well because Joan, after falling on her head in Home Depot (the one actual piece of the story that Emmich used from what happened to his real daughter), was left with the rare ability to recall every day of her life in cinematic detail. In seconds, she can tell you how many times her mother had uttered the phrase “it never fails” in the last six months (27) or what she was wearing when her grandfather took her fishing on a Sunday in June years ago.
Joan had never met Gavin until now, but she did know his partner, Sydney, and waiting inside her uncanny mind are half a dozen startlingly vivid memories to prove it. It is for this reason that Gavin stays and helps her write her song so that in return he can figure out what his partner might have been up to and where he was going at the end of his life. The unlikely duo sets off on their quest until Joan reveals unexpected details about Sydney’s final months, forcing Gavin to question not only the purity of his past with Sydney but the course of his immediate future.
Emmich’s style is both intelligent and tender at heart, rolling emotional angst and sweet memories of the past into a plethora of soul-searching questions and answers focusing on the present. Joan’s rockstar dad and supportive mom also play vital roles in the book, revealing worries and fears of theirs while supporting both daughter and Gavin as they search for clues on the road of life. Each new chapter takes the characters further down the yellow brick road until they reach their unchosen destinies. And even if things don’t work out exactly as planned, in the end, everybody pretty much finds the answers they were looking for.
Emmich has done exceedingly well for a first book author, and The Reminders should appeal to readers of all ages. I enjoyed the book tremendously and can’t wait to see what Emmich comes up with next. Charming, raw and filled with empathy and sorrow, The Reminders is also a refreshing look into the lives of people on the road to healing and new purpose, and for these reasons alone I give The Reminders five stars.
Emmich is a writer, singer-songwriter, and actor. Besides his many recorded records, Emmich has also had recurring roles on shows such as Vinyl, Ugly Betty, and 30 Rock.
Val Emmich will be holding his book release party on June 3 at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. The Reminders will be available for purchase at the show along with a free The Reminders limited release CD. For more information go to Val’s website for details at valemmich.com.
Actor and musician Val Emmich’s ‘The Reminders’ may be cheesy, but it stars a winning 10-year-old
Joan Lennon hates Billy Joel and Bob Dylan. She also has a rare condition where she can remember every detail of her life perfectly.
Actor and musician Val Emmich’s ‘The Reminders’ may be cheesy, but it stars a winning 10-year-old
Image credit: YouTube
Jul 23, 2017 · 07:00 am
Sayali Palekar
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A far younger Val Emmich makes a brief appearance in Tina Fey’s 30 Rock one fine episode, and that is how it strikes me why he is extra cute; it is because I have seen him before. He is the writer of The Reminders, a novel I chose to review not because it was excessively brilliant or keenly incisive about life’s techniques, the way one could say Middlemarch is, but because if you pick it up, you don’t mind not putting it down till it’s over. In other words, it draws you in.
It is a sincerely privileged, unpretentious account of a little girl’s unusual friendship with a grieving man. It does justice to the digital age it is set in without annoyingly clinging to its tenets; there are no printed accounts of SMS conversations or Facebook dialogues. In fact, these things don’t come up at all. The closest you get is a mention of Twitter, but that’s all you get. No tweet is reprinted, no literary sanctity violated. Whew.
Lennon lovin’
To start again: meet Joan Lennon. She has a last name, Sully, but to this she doesn’t assign much worth. To her, the fact that her musician father is a devoted worshipper of John Lennon means there is an inherent, hereditary approval in loving Lennon herself, in “carrying forward the legacy.” Towards the end, when asked if she loves Lennon because she loves Lennon or because her dad loves him, Joan is unable to tell the difference. Fun fact: she hates the music of Billy Joel and Bob Dylan.
But that’s just a fun fact. Here’s a funner fact (not really, because it makes Joan miserable quite often.) Little Joan Lennon has a rare mental condition called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), where she can remember every single day of her life so far (from age five onwards, that is) in perfect, Technicolour detail. She is one among the 30-and-odd people in the world who possess this ability, and she is the youngest of them all: 10 years old.
Joan is introduced to her father’s old bandmate and the current toast of television, Gavin Winters. He has recently made things toasty for his neighbours by setting his furniture on fire in his backyard. In a swift escape from the media, Gavin seeks sanctuary with Joan’s folks.
Incidentally, why did Gavin play the Joker on his own property? Because he is trying to destroy all memories of his late lover, Sydney Brennett, who was also good friends with Joan’s family. Sydney has died, presumably of a stroke or an aneurysm, a few months ago, and Gavin has been shaken out of his existence, to say the least. Things look tough for Gavin as he tries to cope, but when he accidentally learns (thanks to Joan’s photographic memory) that Sydney had been keeping something from him, he is stirred into action.
The art of remembering
Remember The God of Small Things? (Of course you remember.) Part of the reason it was so endearing was because Arundhati Roy had ample space and scope to write with the eyes of a child. This ample space and scope, obviously, is but another indicator of her calibre as a writer, and the same is to be said for Emmich. He alternates his chapters, writing first as Joan and then as Gavin, and it is no surprise that the Joan chapters are the ones that make you tear up. It is because she is a little girl. Who wouldn’t cry?
I read The Reminders on the Duronto, from Mumbai to Calcutta. It was strange for such an outlandish idea to be so pertinent, the fact that there are people who can do what I wish I could do, and they’re tired of it, sick of it, they hate it, even as I continue to wish I had what they did. I don’t care if the things I’m recollecting are good or bad, sad or happy. I want to remember.
And I want to remember in this incredibly precise, legalistic fashion, as if my brain is my attorney and can save me, with this evidence, in a court of flaw. I slept like a baby – while the actual baby in the compartment cried – the whole time, but I read this novel in between. And even though the plot was cheesy, and the writing occasionally trying too hard, I had a good time with this book.
A professor of mine once said, “Yes, keep literary value in mind, keep your Ibsens and your Eliots close. But also think, given where you are and how you live: you’re standing in an airport bookstore, with time to kill. Your degree isn’t completely wasted on you, so you don’t opt to fall for clickbait. You choose to buy a book. And you do buy a book in that bookstore. Would you or would you not like to write that book you just bought?”
Val Emmich’s book is that book you would certainly buy at the bookstore. It’s the book you would certainly borrow from the library, and it’s the book you would certainly gift someone on their birthday. It’s popular and cheesy and has plenty of heart and only white people in it, but it’s a book with a working brain and a great little 10-year-old, and the bottom line is, if you’re travelling, go read The Reminders. It’ll remind you of everything you left behind.
The Reminders, Val Emmich, Little, Brown and Company
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Singer-songwriter Val Emmich celebrates first novel with signing and concert at Maxwell's
Updated on May 23, 2017 at 9:06 AM Posted on May 22, 2017 at 6:17 PM
Jersey City singer/songwriter Val Emmich will perform and read from his new novel The Reminders at Maxwell's Tavern on Saturday, June 3.
Jersey City singer/songwriter Val Emmich will perform and read from his new novel The Reminders at Maxwell's Tavern on Saturday, June 3.(Photo by Andrew Holtz)
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By Jim Testa
For The Jersey Journal
Val Emmich has been something of a Renaissance man for nearly 20 years -- a composer, lyricist, singer, band leader, writer and actor. Music fans know him as an accomplished singer/songwriter who's toured the country and released 10 albums, five EPs and several singles. His acting credits include appearances on HBO's "Vinyl" and network series like "30 Rock" and "Ugly Betty'' and in a host of commercials.
Now Emmich's tackling a new medium: Little, Brown will publish his first novel, "The Reminders," on May 30, followed by a concert and booking signing at Maxwell's Tavern in Hoboken on Saturday, June 3.
Emmich, who grew up in Manalapan and attended Rutgers-New Brunswick, now lives in Jersey City Heights with his wife and two daughters. That's where "The Reminders" took shape. But not before a couple of misses.
"I started writing long-form fiction in 2007, that's when I started my first novel, and it's been ten years of struggle," Emmich said. "I wrote two other novels that weren't any good and didn't get me an agent or anywhere, and in 2013, I began this one -- my third try. Then I got an agent in 2015 and it's finally being published in 2017, so it feels like a solid decade of 'I WANNA WRITE A BOOK.'"
"I've been telling people that I've been trying to do this for so long that it's almost become a running joke," he continued. "I got this little write-up in The New York Post and they mentioned the book, and then I got a write-up in The New York Times and they mentioned the novel. And I felt like the boy who cried wolf because I didn't actually have anything that anyone could read. I was just working on these ideas. So I feel like the build-up has been going on forever, and it's actually added pressure to me. You work on something like this for so long and you never know if anyone's actually going to like it."
Emmich can rest assured there. Advance notices have been terrific; buzz has been building, and I had the opportunity to read a galley copy and can attest that it's an entertaining and emotionally powerful read.
"The Reminders" tells the story of 10-year old Joan, who's been gifted (or cursed) with the ability to remember every detail of every moment of her life. The daughter of a struggling musician, Joan loves the Beatles, especially John Lennon, and wants to be a songwriter herself. So when a family friend comes to visit, and he's a former bandmate of her dad's, Joan enlists him to help her win a songwriting contest.
But Gavin Winters, the family friend, has a lot to deal with; a gay musician turned actor with a role on a hit series, he's reeling from the sudden death of his life partner. When it turns out Joan met the man on several occasions and can remember every second she spent with him, Gavin agrees to help Joan write her song in return for her memories.
But wait: Writing teachers always say to ''write what you know,'' and this is a book about a 10-year-old girl and a gay man. So did Emmich just throw away the rule book?
"Well, I completely ignored that rule for my first two novels, and I think that's why they felt so disingenuous and had no spark," Emmich said. "I really do think I wrote about what I know this time, which seems strange because of that question: How did I write in voice of these main characters? But there is the fact that they're from Jersey City, and there's the love of the Beatles, and the idea of songwriting as lessons for living and healing. So I definitely used things that felt instinctual to me."
"I didn't set out to write two characters who weren't me, it just happened organically," he continued. "The inspiration from the story came when I was staying home to watch my first daughter, and one day we went to Home Depot and my daughter fell out of the shopping cart and hit her head. She was only 18 months old at the time, and I really thought I had killed her. Now that I'm a seasoned father, I realize that kids are pretty invulnerable and things happen more often that you'd think, but for a while I was really scared about what might have happened."
The timing was right.
"I was in a funk at the time because I didn't have any acting jobs and I wasn't playing a lot of shows, and I didn't know who I was, I was just a dad," Emmich said. "And I just started writing the story from the perspective of this little girl who fell on her head, like my daughter. Maybe I just needed to tell myself it wasn't so bad, but I started to write from this little girl's perspective, and I just felt like I had something.
"All that coincided with me watching '60 Minutes' one night and seeing a piece about people with this specialized memory," he added. "Only about 30 people in the world have it. (Actress Marilu Henner is the most famous.) What if this little girl had that and could never forget the day she fell? I don't have that, I don't even have a great memory, so this was out of my wheelhouse, but I just felt like I had something, and I just kept working with it."
With two novels already in the trash, and no certainty the third would be any better, Emmich said it took a leap of faith -- and a feverish obsession -- to go on.
"I needed to write this book," he said. "It's some kind of weird tic that anybody would do this, because it's so lonely. You feel the whole thing rests on your shoulders, and that's an enormous responsibility. And you're there working on it by yourself, for weeks and months. And you never have it exactly right. ...
"I've been thinking a lot about the difference between writing a song and writing a novel lately," he continued. "When you're writing a song, you can just moan over a chord and express an emotion, you don't even need words sometimes to get a message across. With prose, you just have the words. It's simpler, but it's much, much harder. It's the hardest thing I've ever done."
Because Emmich already has a fan base as a musician, he's come up with a unique strategy to promote his novel. He's recorded an album -- mostly covers of songs that come up in the novel, as well as two unreleased originals -- that will be available on CD for everyone who buys a ticket to the Maxwell's show. A national book tour will follow.
"This summer, I'm doing a tour of people's homes, where I'll be doing some short readings from the book and playing a few acoustic songs," he said. "My hope is that the folks who are fans of my music will be my first readers, and when I asked if anyone would like to host an event like this, a bunch of people responded. So I'll be out most of July, and we'll see how it goes. But my publisher is excited I'm doing this. You do an event at a book store, you get 20 people in a big Barnes & Noble, and it feels like a disappointment. But if you get 20 people in a living room, it feels like a party. They'll come to see the music and leave excited about the book.
"My dream is that I have this big back catalog of songs just waiting for people to check out, and if they can discover the music by reading my novel, that would be great. I've been preaching to the same choir for many years now, and I'm really thankful for my little fan base, but it's really hard to grow. The thing I want to do most right now is play music. I think that's just because this book was so hard to do, and there's been such a long build-up. But I'm craving the community of playing music, and the instant gratification of an audience. You can't stand over someone's shoulder while they're reading your book. Even though I'd like to sometimes."
IF YOU GO:
Little City Books presents Val Emmich in concert at Maxwell's Tavern, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken, on Saturday, June 3. Doors open at 7 p.m., book signing at 7:30, concert at 8. Tickets are $7 in advance or $10 at the door.
The Reminders By Val Emmich Book Review
Book Reviews, Culture, Featured
by Catherine Balavage
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The Reminders By Val Emmich has a very interesting premise: a man who wants to remember, and a little girl who wants to forget. It is a wonderful concept but not all great concepts make great novels. Luckily for Val Emmich The Reminders does work. It is a novel which is both happy and sad, funny and painful. It is well observed and has just the right hint of melancholy. It is a beautiful story of an unlikely friendship. The Reminders is ultimately a heart-warming novel that will lift your spirits, while also making you just a little bit sad, but in a good way. Yes, that is possible. Recommended.
Overcome with the loss of his boyfriend Sydney, Gavin Winters has set fire to every reminder in their home. A neighbour has captured the blaze on video, turning this little-known TV actor into a household name. Gavin flees LA for New Jersey, where he hopes that ten-year-old Joan, the daughter of a close friend, can reconnect him with the memories of Sydney he is now in danger of losing for ever.
Joan was born with a rare ability to recall every single day of her life in perfect detail, and in return for sharing her memories of Sydney, Gavin will help her write a song for a local competition. For Joan has had enough of being the girl who can’t forget – she wants to be the girl who will never be forgotten . . .
Charming, beautifully observed, poignant and funny, The Reminders by actor and musician Val Emmich is an irresistible story of the unlikely friendship between a grief-stricken man who can’t remember and a ten-year-old girl who can’t forget.
The Reminders By Val Emmich is available here.
Dubbed a “Renaissance Man” by the New York Post, Val Emmich is a writer, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has had recurring roles on Vinyl and Ugly Betty as well as a memorable guest role as Liz Lemon’s coffee-boy fling, Jamie, on 30 Rock. Emmich lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his wife and their two children. The Reminders is his first novel.
Published 10th August
May 30, 2017
Book Notes - Val Emmich "The Reminders"
The Reminders
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Lauren Groff, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Jesmyn Ward, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.
Val Emmich's novel The Reminders is a heartfelt and compelling debut.
Library Journal wrote of the book:
"Emmich captures the voices of Joan and Gavin, two such different characters, brilliantly. Actor and musician Emmich (Vinyl; Ugly Betty; 30 Rock) can confidently add "novelist" to his list of achievements. He has written a quirky, touching, and addictive read."
In his own words, here is Val Emmich's Book Notes music playlist for his debut novel The Reminders:
In The Reminders, ten-year-old Joan uses her uncanny memory to help Gavin shed light on the final days of his partner Sydney's life.
When I'm writing prose, the music I listen to falls into two categories: songs that fuel the writing and songs that inform the writing. These are imprecise distinctions, but it's the best I've come up with.
While in the act of writing, I'm trying to ignore the very things I've spent my entire career as a singer-songwriter paying attention to—musicality and lyrics. I'm hoping just to lose myself in a mood, energy or feeling that matches whatever the book is trying to be.
When I'm not physically at my computer typing out words, I listen to music differently. I'm absorbing lyrics how my characters might. I'm isolating lines that highlight a sentiment I haven't found a way to communicate. I'm saying to myself, "I want the book to feel like this song feels."
This list is a combination of those two types of songs.
"Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" by The National
This song just moves me. I was wary of using it to aid my writing. I didn't want to ruin it for myself by playing it too often. But in order to get inside Gavin's emotional state I needed the help of some strong stuff.
"Where Do I Begin" by Wilco
Jeff Tweedy sings "from where we end to where do I begin." It feels like that sentence desires punctuation but doesn't know where to put it. Every end is a beginning, on and on and on. From "we" to "I"—the transition can cause whiplash. Wilco mimics that abrupt change with the music, taking the song from a quiet ballad to a drum-heavy, backwards playing, psychedelic crescendo. I hear hope in the confusion. I picture a caterpillar-turned-butterfly breaking from its cocoon.
"Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
A duet. The Reminders is a duet. "Home is wherever I'm with you." When Sydney passes, Gavin isn't sure where home is anymore.
"(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me" by Dionne Warwick
Reminders can be both comforting and torturous. This song sounds like a celebration: "I was born to love you." And also a trap: "I will never be free. You'll always be a part of me."
"Thumbing My Way" by Pearl Jam
I've been a Pearl Jam fan since I was in high school and even though I haven't felt a strong connection to their music in recent years, I still keep tabs on what they're up to. This is one of their best songs from the latter part of their career. When the protagonist of the song tries to find optimism, he fails: "No matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead. I smile, but who am I kidding?"
"I Know It's True" by Ben Talmi
I'd often write to this song. Every time it started up, it triggered an innocence in me. Ben Talmi almost sounds like a child when he sings. Somehow that—along with the lush and colorful sonic landscape—coaxed me into the mindset of my young protagonist.
"Water" by Ra Ra Riot
After my book was sold and I was finishing up the last edit, I started feeling tremendous anxiety about what I had made. Fatherhood made me softer and that softness found its way into the book and I started worrying that that might leave me susceptible to poking. There's a line that repeats in the song: "Don't punish me for what I feel." It's become a kind of mantra. At the end of the day, if we're not doing something with our art that feels daring, why are we even bothering? On the last chorus, Wes Miles seemingly pushes his voice as high as it'll get, just going for it. "So I crawled out of the back door, took off all these tight clothes, jumped into the water." That's what I tried to do with this book. I stripped and jumped. I hope I don't drown.
"Don't Let Me Down" by The Beatles
Joan and her father are obsessed with the Beatles (especially John Lennon), as am I. This has always been one of my favorite songs of theirs. The refrain is shaped like a command, but really it's a request. Don't Let Me Down was the original title of my novel. Joan doesn't want to be let down by the world—she wants to be remembered. Gavin doesn't want to be let down by the man he loved. Maybe it sums us all up. Lennon was good like that.
"Convince Me" by Val Emmich
Have you heard of this Val Emmich guy? Total hack, but he does have a few decent songs. Okay, I feel silly listing one of my own tunes, but it just so happens that this song really does capture the heart of the book. It's a duet I did with Allie Moss (she's great, check her out!). The song is a conversation between a realist and a dreamer who are trying to convince each other that their own outlook is the right one. The same battle of perspective occurs in the book with Gavin and Joan. I wrote the song in 2009. I guess I'm still unconvinced as to who is right.
Val Emmich and The Reminders links:
the author's website
the author's Wikipedia entry
video trailer for the book
EP by the author inspired by the book
Kirkus review
Jersey Journal profile of the author
Weekend Edition interview with the author
Our Favorite Books of the Year (So Far) — You Won't Be Able to Put Them Down!
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The Reminders by Val Emmich
Joan is a 10-year-old girl who can't forget anything, thanks to an accident in Home Depot that left her with the ability to remember every day of her life in cinematic detail. Gavin is a man who is desperate to remember, after losing his partner and trying to piece together their final months together. Written by actor and songwriter Val Emmich, The Reminders is beautiful and beguiling, a story that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.
MUST HAVE
Val Emmich: The Book I Can't Live Without
Novelist Val Emmich says Steve Toltz’s debut novel taught him just how much damn fun reading fiction could be. It was also, he says, a helluva good story.
Val Emmich
06.11.17 12:00 AM ET
I’ve always been a downer, but in my twenties I was truly unbearable. At 29, on a trip to Los Angeles, I visited a bookstore in search of a novel that would quell my loneliness. I found a thick bright-lettered hardcover called A Fraction of the Whole by debut author Steve Toltz. The flap copy described a protagonist who wasn’t sure whether to love or kill his father. I read this and handed over my money.
I’m pleased to report that I got what I paid for. The book made me feel better. But not in the way I expected.
The novel is chiefly concerned with twenty-something Jasper Dean and his father, Martin Dean, the most hated man in Australia. Other than that, the story is hard to convey. It’s sprawling and absurd and philosophical and heartbreaking. But what threw me most when I first read it, and why it’s stayed with me all these years later, was that reading it was so much damn fun.
Back in 2008, when I found the book, I never read for fun. I read to connect, learn, escape, unwind, and impress others. I read, most of all, to feel less alone. Fun, if I ever had it, was drinking with friends, having sex, playing video games, and jamming with my band. Did people actually have fun reading?
Yes! A Fraction of the Whole showed me that fun could indeed be had and reminded me that when I first fell in love with books I pretty much read only for fun. What happened to me? When had I turned so dour?
The novel is laugh-out-loud funny, but its humor amounts to a fraction of the whole of its fun quotient. For starters, it’s loaded with plot, the so-called enemy of serious literature. Stuff happens in this book. Big stuff. Betrayal, fraud, and as teased, patricide. Key characters are killed off by arson, suicide, and poison. A maid becomes the richest woman in the world. A lifelong convict publishes a handbook on crime. The action shifts from Australia to Paris to Thailand growing ever more farfetched and convoluted. I marvel at the gall of Toltz to even attempt such a yarn. I wish I’d done it first.
The narrative is relayed in first person by Jasper and Martin, two sorry fellows trying to make more of their lives but coming up embarrassingly short. Spending time in their exhaustive (and exhausting) minds is where the proper fun is had. The scope of their thoughts, mainly Martin’s, is what gives the novel its true breadth. Passages on death, immortality, God, depression, and madness are followed up with farcical one-liners that undercut the gravity of what we’ve just read. The conflicted mania of it all brings about a kind of euphoria. Martin’s description of how his mother must have felt reading to him every night when he was in his four-year coma (a five-page subplot that might elsewhere compose an entire novel) mirrors my experience of the book: “The agonizing delight of the reader who hears for the first time all the ramblings of the soul, and recognizes them as her own.”
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That’s another reason I read: to recognize myself. Not just the introspective part, but the silly side as well. Not just the me I am, but the me I was and the me I’ve yet to become. It’s all here in just over five hundred pages.
I originally grabbed the book because of its promised father-son conflict. My father has a few things in common with Martin Dean. He had a painful childhood. He’s an atheist with a bit of a Christ complex. Intelligent and well read. Empathetic. Depressed. But what really rings true is the overwhelming presence Martin has in Jasper’s life. How large he looms. Jasper’s main aspiration is not to turn into his father. That was mine too. Like Jasper, I haven’t totally succeeded. But I’ve also learned that it’s hardly a failure.
After Martin’s death, Jasper appreciates his pain-in-the-ass father for the unique creature he was. Still, he regrets that his father “never achieved unlonely aloneness.” In reading Toltz’s novel, I’m happy to say I have.
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Dubbed a "Renaissance Man" by the New York Post, Val Emmich is a writer, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has had recurring roles on Vinyl and Ugly Betty as well as a memorable guest role as Liz Lemon's coffee-boy fling, Jamie, on 30 Rock. Emmich lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his wife and their two children. The Reminders is his first novel.
'The Reminders' Is A Story About Memory
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May 28, 20178:09 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday
What does it mean to be remembered? It's the question at the heart of The Reminders, the debut novel from actor, musician, and now author Val Emmich. He joins NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
What does it mean to be remembered? It's the question at the heart of "The Reminders," the debut novel from actor, musician and now author Val Emmich. It's the story of Joan Lennon Sully, a 10-year-old girl, who desperately wants to be remembered, and her friendship with Gavin Winters, a bereaved actor and friend of Joan's parents, a man who just wants to forget. Together, the two form an unlikely bond based on Sully's highly superior autobiographical memory. She has perfect recall of almost every single day she's lived.
Val, thanks so much for being with us.
VAL EMMICH: Thanks for having me.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: So I wanted us to start with a short reading. But first, can you set the stage for us? Where do we find Joan at the start of the novel?
EMMICH: She's just finished this little class, which I imagine is - involves singing and acting and all sorts of fun activities for a girl 10 years old. And she's waiting for her father to pick her up. And her father is very late, and she's the last one, and she's sitting with the instructor. And so here we go.
(Reading) What time is it now, I ask, strumming my guitar. Five after 5. A car is coming fast but it passes by. I play a minor chord because I'm not in the mood for a happy sound. Ms. Caroline (ph) looks up at the clouds in the sunny sky and says, it's been so long since we've had rain. Actually, I say, it rained on June 20, which was a Thursday, and that was less than three weeks ago. Is that right? Yes, it is. She seems impressed. Did you always have such an amazing memory? No, I say. I got it when I fell on my head in Home Depot. Ms. Caroline laughs, but I'm telling the truth. My friend Wyatt (ph) knows all about comic books and the Internet, and he told me that falling on my head in Home Depot is what gave me my highly superior autobiographical memory and falling on my head again in Home Depot would make me lose it. That's why I haven't gone back to that store after all these years.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Why is Joan so worried that she is going to be forgotten?
EMMICH: Because I am, and I'm the author.
(LAUGHTER)
EMMICH: I think...
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Really, is that true?
EMMICH: It is. Well, I know I'll be forgotten. And I think you'd have to be a fool to think that anyone will remember any of us. But I think for someone who has a near perfect memory, she's sensitive to this idea of what people remember and what people forget. And she wants to be one of those things that people don't forget.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let's talk about the other character in this book, which is Gavin. Tell me a little bit about him and what he's going through and when she first encounters him.
EMMICH: He's just lost his - the love of his life - Sydney. And they are living together in LA. And when Sydney dies, which is only a month ago, Gavin has to live in this house by himself, and he can't take looking around at all the reminders that Sydney left behind. And he starts burning a lot of the stuff when the book opens, but you can't burn these memories. So he leaves LA, and he goes to stay with some friends in New Jersey just to get away from these reminders. And Sydney, Gavin's partner, used to visit this family in New Jersey. And Joan was there, and she was observing and interacting. And she has stuff to tell. And some of it's very small stuff, like what he wore when he came by or what he ate for dinner.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: What does Gavin get from his friendship with Joan?
EMMICH: I mean, in a word, he gets renewal. Joan has her own, like, I guess, shallow goal, which is to win this song contest. But...
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Right.
EMMICH: ...It's a - really, it's a larger goal, which is to matter, you know, to matter not just today but to matter tomorrow, which is a mature goal for anyone, let alone a 10-year-old. But I think it's like a link into a past that he doesn't have access to. These are memories she offers him that he doesn't have. And at first, he's wary because he's trying to turn off this pain. It's like awakening the dead. It's like bringing the past to life. And Gavin can't - he can't deny that offer, you know.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: They get close by working on a song together. As you mentioned, she wanted to participate in this contest. Tell me a little bit about that relationship with music.
EMMICH: Well, music is this thing that's always around in the house with Joan because her father is a musician. He's got this little home studio. And she sees how powerful music is, how it can bring the past to life. And so they start to write the song together. And I think Gavin is unaware of, at first, how he's not just helping her with this song, he's helping himself. Not only is he able to deal with some of his grief through music, but just the communal aspect of songwriting and building something new is healing for him.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: You actually recorded the track that Joan and Gavin wrote together.
EMMICH: Yeah, it's called "Leave The Past Behind," and I think it's partially about that, moving on. But in order to move on, I think it's not about ignoring the past but somehow reckoning with it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND")
EMMICH: (Singing) Morning comes and you're not here. An empty bed, but I feel you near. Such a mess you left behind. I'm not so sure I'll make it this time.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: After you wrote this, did you come away with a sense of what it means to be remembered?
EMMICH: I did come up with an answer. And I think part of this book was me trying to deal with that. I don't know why it really bothers me that - I think the speed of our culture. We don't have a lot of time to think about the past. And I was trying to find an answer of, like, what does all this matter? What is...
GARCIA-NAVARRO: What is a life?
EMMICH: What is life? Like, yeah, just trying to crack that nut with a novel. I did come up with an answer. I don't want to give it away, but I think what does it matter when we're gone if someone remembers us? We won't be here. Why should we have that cause us turmoil in the here and now? Now, I say that, and I'd like to live towards that, but I still have a battle with that.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's Val Emmich. His debut novel is "The Reminders." Thanks so much for being with us.
EMMICH: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND")
EMMICH: (Singing) Life began when you arrived. What came before was a waste of time. Now I'm wondering where to go. Some answers I will never know. I could sail into outer space, but even stars, they leave a trace...
GARCIA-NAVARRO: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
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