Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, NPR.org, theatlantic.com, The Millions, and other publications. Her novel, Acceptance, was made into a television movie starring the hilarious Joan Cusack.
Coll is the recipient of multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She works at Politics and Prose Bookstore and was the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for five years. She teaches occasional workshops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Coll applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Word Salad, with the following results:
I have applied the Page 69 Test to most if not all of my novels, and it’s always fascinating to consider how a random, single page captures – or fails to capture—the themes of the larger narrative.Visit Susan Coll's website.
In the case of Word Salad, I am happy to report that the DNA of page 69 offers a perfect lens onto the novel at large, on top of which it’s a passage that I especially like.
On page 69, Matilda, my narrator, has been summoned to the information desk at the bookstore where she works. The previous evening, there had been an incident involving an aggressive photographer who had harassed a visiting author. Matilda was caught in the middle and is now being accused of assault. She has just been served legal papers. On page 69, she is in a state of alarm, agitated and confused. At the same time, she is trying to help a customer find books on the Battle of Gettysburg, providing a glimpse into the normal rhythms of bookstore life---in this case the customer decides not to purchase any of the many books Matilda has put in his hands. What I most like on this page is the unhinged dialogue that Matilda has with a child who is staring at her. The child thinks that Matilda looks “funny.” When Matilda asks for clarification, the child explains that Matilda’s lipstick is “peculiar.” Matilda has in fact been wearing a somewhat peculiar shade of lipstick that she inherited from her recently deceased mother, so this exchange is jarring, and she overreacts even though she is the first to agree that the lipstick is in fact peculiar. Overall, this page captures the book well, offering a glimpse of bookstore life while introducing a central plot point -- the legal threat hanging over Matilda. It also hints at one of the larger themes---the complicated grief Matilda feels about her mother’s recent death.
Coffee with a Canine: Susan Coll & Zoe.
The Page 69 Test: Acceptance.
The Page 69 Test: Beach Week.
The Page 69 Test: The Stager.
The Page 69 Test: Real Life and Other Fictions.
The Page 69 Test: The Literati.
--Marshal Zeringue