About Leif Enger
Leif Enger grew up in Minnesota where he worked for 16 years as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. In the early 1990s, he began writing a series of detective stories with his brother, Lin, under the name L.L. Enger. Peace Like A River is Leif (pronounced Lāfe) Enger's first solo, and commercially successful, novel.
He currently lives on a farm in Aitkin, Minnesota with his wife of over 20 years, Robin, and two sons, Ty and John. He has credited his family for many of the ideas in the book, including the cowboy, Sunny Sundown, the brainchild of then four-year-old John. He is currently working on a second novel.
This section was written with information from the Acknowledgements section of Peace Like a River and an interview with Pat Holt.
Interview by Heather Simons, Features Editor, Gettysburgian, Thursday, January 26, 2006
Where are you from? Where did you go to college and what was your major?
Where do you live now? Do you have any children?
Osakis, Minnesota is my home town -- a small town on a pretty lake in west-central Minnesota. I went to college at Moorhead State University in the nearby Red River Valley, met Robin there, and majored in English and Mass Communications. We now live near another small town, Aitkin, a two-hour drive north of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Our kids are Ty (18) and John (15).
Did you always want to be a writer?
Not always. First I wanted to be a centerfielder for the Twins, because I was short and (I hoped) speedy, like Cesar Tovar, owner of the coolest name in all of baseball. My athletic talents however were small and resisted improvement and by fourteen I had decided to be a trumpet player instead, like the great Maynard Ferguson. Writing, a pursuit minus screaming fans, was down the list a bit, but there you go.
What have you learned from your past experiences as a writer?
The value of practice, of those stacks of pages no one will ever see. The pleasure of rewriting, of working through edits. Early on I thought of writers as fevered individuals locking themselves in the attic for six weeks of sweaty gorgeous agony: the master at work! Truthfully I would love to have that happen, but for now it seems to be a matter of discipline, of listening in the quiet, of turning sentences this way and that.
What prompted you to write Peace like a River?
Our oldest son suffered from asthma as a child, a terrifying experience for all of us. There were 4 a.m. visits to the emergency ward. There were close calls. My brother suggests that we write in order to understand what is happening to us, and I began to imagine an asthmatic boy with a father who can do miracles -- but not the miracle they both want most. The story began there and ran into all sorts of country I love; romantic outlaws, brotherly loyalty, unlikely courtship, the wild mind of God Almighty and the notion of life as an epic poem.
How does it feel to know that an entire county is reading your book?
It's a complete delight. Thank you!
What is most satisfying about finishing a novel?
The relief in realizing you haven't been utterly wasting your time. We are only given so many years and who doesn't want to feel productive? Of course there are novels that shouldn't be finished -- I know, having not finished a number of them.
Do you write daily?
Yes.
Who is your personal favorite author?
Robert Louis Stevenson, who has somehow ended up being thought of as a "children's author" but whose characters are more complex and surprising than anyone's, and whose joy in the work is evident page by page.
There are references to Western cowboy culture in Peace like a River. Does that genre hold any special meaning for you?
The West takes a grip on you. Maybe it starts with Gunsmoke and Zane Grey and those breathstopping mesas in John Ford movies. You feel properly small in the West. Less available to hubris. Drive up into the mountains and you know you aren't going to last in this world. Maybe you feel closer to the next one. The only other place that affects me similarly is the sea.
What advice can you give to aspiring writers?
Accept criticism. Write on a schedule. Court failure. Read Austen for wit, Stevenson for romance, Jack London for the salt spray, and Proverbs, of course, for wisdom.
What are your expectations for coming to speak at Gettysburg?
My experience is that reading programs bring out a diverse crowd; I'm anticipating the back-and-forth of discussion which is always the best part of events like this.
Leif Enger’s series of detective books (written with his brother under the name "L.L. Enger") revolved around the adventures of P.I. Gun Pedersen, an ex-baseball pro turned detective. While these books never gained the recognition that Peace Like a River has, the series did gain recognition among devoted readers of the genre. For Musselman Library patrons, these titles are available for check out in the main floor Browsing Room, the call numbers are noted in parentheses.
Books in the Gun Pedersen series:
Comeback, Pocket Books, 1990 (PS3555.N422 C6 1990)
Swing, Pocket Books, 1991 (PS3555.N4225 S94 1991)
Strike, Pocket Books, 1992 (PS3555.N4225 S77 1992)
Sacrifice, Pocket Books, 1993 (PS3555.N4225 S7 1993)
The Sinners' League, O. Penzler Books, 1994 (PS3555.N422 S56 1994)
