Interview with Bridget Asher, author of All of Us and Everything

It’s a novel about an unusual family — three grown sisters raised by their eccentric mother, someone they pegged as a liar when it came to the secret identity of their father. Then Hurricane Sandy hits their Ocean City, New Jersey home, and a box of letters is unearthed, revealing a lot of old secrets. It’s comedic and hopefully very honest about sisterhood, motherhood, and weird family dynamics.

What are you currently craving?

Chocolate. Always. Sea salt and raspberry, at present.

Who was your childhood hero?

The foul-mouthed playwright David Mamet. I was an odd kid.

What’s in your Netflix queue?

We’re watching Cheers reruns as a family. We’re in season four. Coach has died. It was hard to go through again. I also love Peaky Blinders.

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

I imagine the current President to be so far better read than I am that I would reverse that question and ask him what books he’d recommend for me.

What’s your spirit animal? (it doesn’t have to be an animal)

Bill Murray in MOONRISE KINGDOM in his pajamas, holding an ax and a bottle of booze saying he’s going to go out and find a tree to chop down.

What’s your favorite quote or scene from All of Us and Everything?

It’s a spoiler on the bottom of page 275. After I wrote it, I screamed a little. I had no idea but I was so happy the character confided.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

I really love “Memory is a net.” It’s an Oliver Wendell Holmes quote and I’ve no idea what he meant by it but, as a writer, it means that my brain is an editor. It holds onto the moments of my life that have some psychological resonance and I draw on those moments, re-imagined and altered and made new, to write from.

Bridget Asher is the author of the new book All of Us and Everything.

Connect with Bridget
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