Heading Out to Wonderful: An Interview with Robert Goolrick

Robert Goolrick, author of the runaway bestseller A Reliable Wife and a bracingly dark and honest memoir, The End of the World As We Know It, has written a marvelous new novel called Heading Out to Wonderful. Old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, the story begins with a classic premise: A stranger arrives in a small town. What happens next will slowly, beautifully twist and break your heart.

On a recent rainy afternoon, Goolrick stopped by Amazon to talk with us about the importance of concentration, the Grecian true crime story behind his new book, and what it feels like to get fired via email on a Friday night. "I don't really understand very much about how we do what we do," he says. "So writing is the only way that I can truly come to terms with the motivation and psychology of things that have actually happened."