I do not pretend to be one this generation’s great interviewers. Usually, I ramble on for too long. I apologize to the readers and the scientists that I interviewed.

The above picture is an artist’s rendition of Mr. Ball. I only had two dollars to spend on the sketch and I guess that’s the best I could do for my money.

A few facts about Mr. Ball before we get on with the interview:
Jesse Ball lives in Iceland. He once wrote a book (March Book). Then he decided to do it again (Vera & Linus) with a little help from a friend. And that was a good time so he decided to write another book. This one he called Samedi the Deafness which is about a character named James. My father’s name is James, but the two appear to be unrelated. The James Mr. Ball created is a mnemonist, a person capable of remembering huge amounts of knowledge, who learns of a conspiracy that will turn the world on its head. My father, the other James, sometimes forgets where the Dentist is located. Anyway, I’m sure Mr. Ball has at least six more books in him.

Everyday Yeah: When did you leave childhood?

Jesse Ball: Not yet. For instance, I have a slingshot.

EDY: What would you do if you were the only deaf person in the world?

JB: I would have a beautiful laugh.

EDY: What would you do if you were deaf just like the rest of the world?

JB: Sadly, it might be the case.

EDY: What would you do if you were the only person in the world who was not deaf?

JB: Sit on a pillar in the desert.

EDY: Does Thordis Bjornsdottir (co-author of Vera and Linus) exist or is she a snow(wo)man?

JB: A good question, and one I've often asked myself. Supposedly, yes, then no.

EDY: Speaking of Thordis, did you have any hand in trying to write her Wikipedia page? What was her involvement in your Wikipedia page, if there was any?

JB: There is someone who doesn't like her. We don't know why. He says those things. If we wrote our own pages, they would be far more interesting.

EDY: Dear Jesse, would you ever marry someone named Jesse Ball?

JB: I would turn Jesse Ball down because of his nasty way of meeting the eyes of strangers in public places.

EDY: Who did the cover for Samedi? Did you layout the book yourself?

JB: Helen Yentus at Random House. The book is laid out pretty much the same way as the ms. was when I gave it to them. The font was the same as in a recent translation of Tale of Genji -- a book I treasure.

EDY: When you knock on a door, do you knock just once or do you prefer to knock in some other variety?

JB: Not once -- then it might seem like a stone being thrown.

EDY: Do you still prefer that your biography be written in Braille?

JB: I would rather have it engraved on stones that then could be seen from the perimeter with a telescope.

EDY: You were 26 when your first book came out. Did you ever feel a sense of urgency to get published at that point in your life? Have you ever felt? Does it ever die?

JB: I felt an urgency then, certainly. There is an urgency to the making-process still. At this point, I have written a lifetime of work -- there are five novels, five books of poems, three books of short prose, two children's books, a book of drawings, a deck of cards, etc -- I suppose it comes down to how seriously one views the enterprise. I have always been very serious about the work -- less serious about myself. For me, it's a matter of perception -- of trying to sharpen perception and write that feeling clearly.

EDY: There's a man on the corner holding an umbrella over his head on a cloudless day. What does he say to you?

JB: Five men in the cafe with hats before them on the table. Under one of the hats is a revolver.

EDY: I won't pretend to be a great scholar of the term Kafkaesque which seems to immediately put me at a disadvantage when I read your book because of all the reviews I've read people are quick to describe Samedi as a Kafkaesque story. I understand where they're coming from, but in a way I'm jealous because the term is thrown around so much and I know I'll never feel comfortable enough myself to use it when describing a work of fiction. Anyway, I ended up at Wikipedia to try and boost my knowledge on the subject, but only read the cultural references of Kafkaesque. One particular reference stood out in my mind. It's a quote from Woody Allen's Annie Hall, "Having sex with you is really a Kafkaesque experience. I mean that as a compliment." Now, I am only a novice on the subject, but if it were up to me I would have retired the term right then and there. No one's going to top that. Bill Watterson made a valid effort in his comic strip when he had Hobbes say that "People need goodnight smooches so they don't get Kafka dreams," but I feel like he took a different route entirely with the term. So, this isn't really a question. Maybe just talk about your thoughts on Kafka. If this seems like a waste of your time please either tell me or ignore the whole thing and pretend you didn't see this question.

JB: Kafka -- too many people read him badly. You have to find the gentleness in him -- the love, the comedy. And of course -- his clearness.

EDY: What happens the day Jesse Ball is stranded in desert?

JB: I did live in a desert! I worked as a black-jack dealer in New Mexico.

EDY: Could you write a short-short story about owning a pet named Everyday Yeah?

JB: The Life and Death of E.Y.
Susie receives as a gift a puppy. The mother of the puppy takes her aside and tells her: if you don't look at the puppy everyday, he will die -- the children, you see -- these days they are very sensitive. Do you always talk like that? asks Susie. Yes, and, goodbye. Susie names the puppy Everyday Yeah. Eighteen days pass. On the nineteenth, Susie gets really excited about a rope-swing. She does not look at the puppy. He dies. The mother of the puppy comes and knocks on her door. Susie, Susie, she says. I want to see my son. I am actually very busy right now on the rope-swing, Susie tells this mother. Perhaps you can come back tomorrow. But the next day there is a fair to go to and everyone goes to the fair where they are all given new names. That way Susie can't ever be found, not ever again.
questions and answers gathered by Mark Baumer
he also was the one who butchered the artwork.