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owlectomyOr, a couple closely-connected things:
(1) I can't ever imagine asking a writer, "So, you know that extremely sad thing that happened in your semi-autobiographical novel? How did that play out in real life?"
(2) I do not ever really want to answer a question about how much of Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad comes from real life. Colson Whitehead's answer is fabulous:
But it's like asking how much of the butter and flour and eggs are in the cake, isn't it? You can say, oh, it's four sticks of butter and three eggs and two cups of flour, but it tastes like cake all the way through. You're never going to hit the patch that's just a whole stick of butter.
(1) I can't ever imagine asking a writer, "So, you know that extremely sad thing that happened in your semi-autobiographical novel? How did that play out in real life?"
(2) I do not ever really want to answer a question about how much of Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad comes from real life. Colson Whitehead's answer is fabulous:
A: I tend not to act or feel or talk in a way that would add anything worthwhile to an extended work of fiction. I tend not to do things that lend themselves to dramatic unity, aesthetic harmony, and narrative discharge. My leitmotifs are crappy. I need an editor or someone of artistic bent to shape my useless existence into something that would interest other people. Also, I am a real person.
But it's like asking how much of the butter and flour and eggs are in the cake, isn't it? You can say, oh, it's four sticks of butter and three eggs and two cups of flour, but it tastes like cake all the way through. You're never going to hit the patch that's just a whole stick of butter.