Sam Gennett
Hello readers, and happy Friday! We here at the Jet Fuel Review are happy to bring back one of our favorite features, the “Meet the Editors” series! For the next six weeks, we will have new installments in the series, all looking at one of our brand new editors. Today, we have our new assistant managing editor, Sam Gennett.
Sam is currently a sophomore at Lewis University with a major in creative and professional writing. The first book she ever read was Odd Socks, and since that fateful day in the first grade, she has been hooked for life on the world of literature. As much as she loves to read and write, she doesn’t believe she’ll love anything more than her chocolate Labrador (who is cleverly named Mocha). When she’s not working for the Jet Fuel Review, she is a hockey fan who does yoga and watches reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Below is our Q&A with Sam:
Who are you and what is your role in the Jet Fuel Review?
My name is Sam, and I am a sophomore professional and creative writing major at Lewis University. I am the assistant managing editor and assistant nonfiction editor for the Jet Fuel Review.
What book might we find on your nightstand right now?
Embedded in chocolate wrappers and used teabags, you will find a copy of David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
If you had the chance to co-write with one author, who would you choose? Why?
If reanimation was a typical thing to do, I would love a chance to work with Kurt Vonnegut. I have been reading him since junior high — his work has always been a staple in my life, one of those writers that I have always loved and always will. His work is genius to me, and if I can learn to write with a quarter of his skill, then I can die happy.
Describe your perfect reading atmosphere.
A clean, well-lit place. Just kidding, the perfect place to read is a place that I have yet to find. Beaches and pools are annoying because you risk getting a weird book-reading-position-tan-line (they’re real). Any type of transportation vehicle is a neck-ache waiting to happen. Even my own couch is not preferable because it’s only a matter of time before some joint somewhere in my body falls asleep. Although, when I’m reading something good, those issues tend to magically fix themselves.
What might your personal library look like?
Good books, bad books, old books, new books (is that a Dr. Suess book or something?). My personal library would have all the books I have ever read in addition to all the books I would like to read. It would also have a mini coffee bar in each corner and a roaring fireplace because, let’s face it, a library is not complete without a fireplace.
If you could “re-make” a poorly written movie that was based on a book, what movie would it be?
This movie cannot be considered poorly written yet because it has not exactly been made yet, but I would to love write and direct the film version of Wicked. It’s been a musical for a long time, but I think it is better suited to be a film. Wicked is one of my all-time favorite novels and I fantasize about receiving a phone call from Hollywood asking me, a college student in Romeoville, Illinois, who has never touched a camera in her life, to undertake the project of turning this fantastic book into a film. There is so much substance in that book and, in my opinion, the stage musical does not do it justice.
What piece of literature can you reread over and over again?
I have read The Catcher in the Rye three times with more to come. Each time I read that book, I read it differently because as I go through different phases of my life and gain new experiences, I ultimately develop new perspectives and ways of looking at the world, so it is never quite the same story when I read it. I think Catcher is one of those books that can speak to people of all ages, it’s not just for angsty teenagers.
Give us a quote from your favorite (or any) book/movie.
“I’m not even supposed to be here today.” Clerks is one of my favorite movies, I might even be confident enough to say it is my favorite movie. I have never been more ready for anything than I am for Clerks III.
If you were invited to have coffee with any fictional character, who would you most like to meet? Why?
Buffy Summers. She kicks butt.
Share your top five favorite pieces of writing (anything included, be it movies, books, etc.).
I hate these questions. They’re so difficult because I’m sure this list will change in a week or so, but here goes nothing:
- “Lady Lazurus” by Sylvia Plath
- The Virgin Suicdies by Jeffrey Eugenides
- Demian by Hermann Hesse
- Dazed and Confused directed by Richard Linklater
- Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”
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Hope you liked getting to know a bit about Sam, check back next Friday when we take a look at another new editor!
