In our continuing Web series we talk to authors writing in or about the Middle Kingdom about their literary habits, preferences and peculiarities and examine the question at the heart of being an author – why they write

James Farrer was born in Georgia and grew up in Tennessee. He made his first big escape from the American South to Germany as an exchange student, and just kept going, ending up in Taiwan in1988. Altogether he lived all but five of the past 22 years in Asia. He received a PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago in 1998, and is Professor of Sociology at Sophia University in Tokyo. He is author of over 30 articles and chapters and a book on Chinese sexual culture entitled Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai.

Why I write
Usually I write because some persistent editor has peppered me with enough pesky e-mails to move his or her project up to the top of my agenda... More seriously, I am an academic researcher, and most of my research of late has involved interviewing people who have volunteered their time and provided me with a wealth of personal detail and insights. I feel immense pressure to respect the time they have given me and their faith (however limited) in my project. As a researcher, I most enjoy the time I spend with my informants, and I want to convey their perspectives truthfully as well as bring something theoretical or sociological to the discussion that takes it beyond 'commonsense.'

Do you write every day? If so, how many hours?
I try to write everyday, but I also teach, so I am lucky if during the semesters, I have two days to focus on my writing. On a good day, writing for me is a kind of psychological flow experience. The hours slip by unnoticed and I realize I have produced a nice section of 2,000 words. How many hours? Probably less than six or seven. I am humbled when I read about people like Tom Wolfe who could write 10,000 words a day. 2,000-3,000 is a good day for me.

Worst source of distraction?
I hate e-mail. E-mail is the enemy of the good life in the 21st century. It is mind-boggling that people would subject themselves to even more intrusive media like instant messaging.
 
Best source of inspiration?
My best source of inspiration is a conversation. Since most of my writing is still focused on Shanghai, despite my living in Japan, I try to spend my days in Shanghai talking to a variety of people from morning to evening. I leave energized and recommitted to my writing projects.

How often do you get writers' block/doubt your own ability?
I doubt my own ability every day, but I have also learned that it doesn't matter. Writing is a craft or a discipline more like swimming than it is an inborn talent like a beautiful face. I sometimes get too distracted to write, but I no longer get writers' block. In any case, I am an academic writer, not a belletristic writer, and I assume that most of my readers have rather low expectations of style. I do, however, care about style.

Contemporary writer in any medium who you never miss?
I read most everything by a very few contemporary novelists, Orhan Palmuk, Murakami Haruki and Yu Hua. I am a news junkie and read The New York Times and Asahi Shinbun, which is delivered to my house in Tokyo twice a day. When I am writing on a topic I like, I am omnivorous. Right now I am in love with food history, because I am writing about restaurants and cuisine. Luckily food writers are much better than sex writers.

Favorite Chinese writer?
Maybe Li Yu, because he was so irreverent and scatological, but I must admit I never read him in the original classical Chinese.

Best book about China?
I am tempted to say there are no good books about China. Indeed I really hate books 'about China' (sorry to those who are writing a 'China book'). I almost never read a book 'about America,'  'about Japan' or 'about Germany.' There are many good books situated in China, but unfortunately even many of the best Chinese writers, even Yu Hua, still insist on writing 'about China' rather than about life. If I had to recommend a book about China, it would be Mencius.

Favorite book?
In the past few years, two literary books stand out - Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald and Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk. Both are about the importance of spaces and places, and both strike a difficult balance between an unsentimental account of  irreparable loss and the persistence of memory. For nonfiction, my favorite book is Foucault's History of Sexuality. For more classic fiction, Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe.

Favorite writer?
William Faulkner. I am Southerner, after all.

The book you should have read but haven't?
The Koran.

You look back at the first thing you had published and think...
Not bad.

Does writing change anything?
Writing changes everything. Writing is the only reason that human beings can imagine that life has any meaning beyond their stomachs and their bullocks.

What are you working on now and when is it out?
In addition to some smaller projects, I am writing a book on Shanghai's expatriates, but really about the possibilities of a multicultural Chinese city. It is about work, friendship, sex, family, kids, food and politics. It is coming out first as a series of academic articles, but I suspect the whole book will be finished this year.

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