Author Notes: Mark Jordan Manner

Mark Jordan MannerRecent Puritan contributor Mark Jordan Manner answers some questions about his reading habits, what he’s been listening to, and his story, “When Life Gives You Doris,” in Issue XXII: Summer 2013 of The Puritan.Town Crier: Does your story have an interesting origin story/compositional history you’d like to share?Mark Jordan Manner: I wrote “When Life Gives You Doris” last summer. My girlfriend had convinced me the tiny black dot on my back was cancer, so I ran to the walk-in clinic the next morning to confirm my untimely death. There was a chart in the waiting area that showed whether you’re obese based on your age, height and weight. There’s a line in my story that goes, “The newfound lack of browness in my attire still couldn’t hide the fact that I was what the flowchart at my doctor’s office referred to as an at risk patient.” That’s sort of where the story began for me, and I moved on from there. And I don’t have cancer. It was a cyst, which my girlfriend had to pop for me. Karma.TC: What was the story influenced by?MJM: I was watching a lot of Degrassi: The Next Generation at the time. It’s the funniest show on television because it tries so damn hard to be heavy, like every episode’s got some teenager selling drugs, or cutting themselves, or getting raped left and right. I wanted to write something similar, a story where the humour stems from some excess of strong emotions, serious issues, melodrama. “When Life Gives You Doris” deals with a lot of topics that are very Degrassi-esque—obesity, mental illness, online dating, abortion, suicide, bullying, chubby-chasers—but I hope there’s still a relatable character underneath the bullshit, one who can make the reader smile and lighten all the subject matter that’s been placed by my heavy hand.TC: Tell us the best thing you’ve read lately, or a short fiction writer you’re jealous of, or a story you wish you wrote.MJM: The three best, most affecting stories I’ve read this summer are “The Eviction Process” by Kris Bertin, “Jeremy or Jacob or Whoever” by Sara Flemington, and “Pumpkinheads” by Andrew F. Sullivan. I’m jealous of all three of these writers, and I wish I wrote their stories.TC: Did music lyrics have anything to do with the piece we’ve published? Is there any recent lyricist you’ve been digging, and why?MJM: I’m a big fan of Max Bemis. I think his lyrics are raw and intelligent in a way I want my prose to be. I also think a lot of his lyrics are funny, which is kind of rare these days. I think bands either take themselves way too seriously, or they’re Weird Al Yankovic. Not many tread between the two, but Max Bemis does. I listen to his music a lot when I’m writing. He even has a song called “Do the Dohnk,” which is where I stole my main character’s name from: Doris Doykle-Dohnk.Mark Jordan Manner lives in Toronto. His stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Grain, EVENT, Riddle Fence, Ricepaper, The Antigonish Review, Prairie Fire, The Feathertale Review, and others.