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The Organ Grinder and the Monkey

The Organ Grinder and the Monkey

Sam Moffie
Xlibris (2008)ISBN 9781436327756
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebeccas Reads (7/08)

 

Today, RebeccasReads is pleased to interview Sam Moffie, who is here to talk about his new book, “The Organ Grinder and the Monkey.”

A lifelong baseball fan, Youngstown, Ohio resident Sam Moffie graduated from Wittenberg University. He manages two sports bars, serving on the front lines of America’s most heated debate topics: sex, sports and politics. Sam has three children, one son-in-law, one granddaughter, two dogs, two cats and one strike-out at marriage.

RR:  Welcome, Sam. I’m glad you could join me today. To begin will you tell us about the three main characters of the novel and what links them together?

Sam:  Thank you for having me. It is a pleasure to be able to partake in an interview with RebeccasReads. The first character is Seymour Petrillo, whose therapist has written a best-selling novel about him concerning murders he has committed. He is from Steubenville, Ohio and has a life-long dream to become a veterinarian. His background is all important. A Dean Martin celebrity obsessed father who would rather play Rat-Pack trivia than take care of his son. A mother who is obsessed that her ex-husband turned out gay, which is why she divorced him, and an all knowing and all loving grandfather who dies way too early before Seymour can begin nurturing wisdom from him. Seymour is very Italian. Our second character is the beautiful and talented Constance Powers, who is from Boardman, Ohio. Her family used to rule the community, but all sorts of problems over the decades took their toll on the family fortune. Her looks, brains and talent have been her ticket out. She wants to be a Rockette and onward to New York City she goes. Constance is very WASPY. Rounding out the trio is Irving Hanhart from Brookline, Massachusetts. Irving is from a mixed marriage of a Jewish mother and a Scottish father who are die-hard radicals. He grows up in their radical bookstore/coffee house where he wants to be a cop!

RR:  What gave you the idea for a therapist being the link between the characters?

Sam:  It was a way of not only linking the three characters—who are so diverse, it became a major theme in the novel about what type of therapy was more important to people? Therapy with a professional or as Irving learns—Al-Anon with ourselves. I also could poke fun at the world of publishing by making Seymour’s therapist a best-selling novelist.

RR:  Do all three of the characters receive counseling from the therapist?

Sam:  A good question. No, just Seymour and Seymour’s mother. Irving refuses to read the book. Constance reads it though.

RR:  You mentioned above that the therapist writes a book about murders Seymour committed. Will you tell us more about that situation—I assume Seymour got away with murder but confessed it to his therapist?

Sam:  The therapist writes her book AFTER the murders. It's a book on WHY Seymour turned out to be a killer. Believe me, Seymour doesn't get away with murder.

RR:  Tell us more about the therapist. Would you consider the therapist immoral for breaking client confidentiality?

Sam:  I was just trying to poke fun at these “tell all” books that are all around us. They really tell us that there are a lot of suckers out there buying them.

RR:  How did you come up with the title of “The Organ Grinder and the Monkey”?

Sam:  At some time(s) in all our lives we have to be the monkey dancing to the music of the organ grinder. All the main characters experience this. For example: Seymour and his split personality. Constance and her career of being in bad plays. Irving and the disease of alcoholism.

RR:  Sam, these characters are all very colorful. Where did you get your inspiration to create them?

Sam:  I am an excellent observer of people. Throw in a few things I wanted to say about contemporary society and I was able to create the right characters.

RR:  Would you say you have a favorite character?

Sam:  I love the following support characters. Headda Lettuce, Carmen Antonucci, Mrs. Brumagin, Joey Sicily, Captain Cliche, Jerry Feingold, Otto Ott and Irving's parents.

RR:  New York City is the major and final setting of the novel. Why did you choose New York to play such a significant role in the novel?

Sam:  Because New York City is such a great place for a writer of fiction. Also, with the other three coming from Steubenville, Boardman and Brookline I felt that New York City would be a terrific compare/contrast.

RR:  What does New York City represent to the characters and without giving away the plot, can you tell us whether it turns out to be what they expect, especially for the would-be rockette?

Sam:  NYC is a beginning and a ending—especially for Seymour Petrillo. Irvings finds his calling and Constance eventually gets her kicks in.

RR:  Sam, I love the book’s cover. It’s very film noir—and am I correct that that’s Dean Martin on it? How would you describe what the book cover is trying to say about the novel?

Sam:  I am very impressed that you used the film noir description. That was exactly what type of cover I wanted to project. The whole black and white imagery is my favorite. It is a likeness of Dean Martin. The cover is telling the reader that this is a dark and complex novel.

RR:  Sam, I understand your previous novel, SWAP, won some awards. Will you tell us a little about that book?

Sam:  My first novel SWAP was named highly commended in the 2007 Carpe Diem Festival. Honorable mention 2007 Hollywood Book Festival. A quarter-finalist for the 2007 Writers Network Contest and a Finalist in the 2007 Midwest Publishers Association Contest.

It is a novel loosely based upon a true story that involved two baseball players trading their wives and lives. The novel tells about the trade from each of the two couples involved. Each main character gets an entire chapter to talk about his life growing up right up to the swap. The main link in the novel is the main character—Sheldon Marsh’s mother, who is a movie maven and is always comparing everyone and everything to the movies.

RR:  Sam, I hear you were interviewed last year by Sally Jesse Raphael. Will you tell us about that experience and how it came about?

Sam:  Sally Jesse Raphael was quite an experience. Her producer loves baseball and was looking to talk about scandals in baseball. Sally Jesse was more up on steroids than she was on wife swapping, but it was a pleasant experience.

RR:  Sam, when you’re not writing books, what else do you enjoy doing? I understand you’re a big baseball fan.

Sam:  I didn’t get to many games this year—because my oldest son was leaving for Iraq, and I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. Also, the Cleveland Indians stink and aren’t worth the price of the tickets to watch. I have toned down my involvement in local politics and spend all my time writing and re-writing, working my Tavern, entertaining my family and drinking wine with my muse. I also walk my dogs a lot.

RR:  Sam, I have to ask you, does managing a tavern give you material for your books—are you like your fictional therapist who reveals the stories of those slightly drunk who decide to confide in you?

Sam:  A tavern is a wonderful place to observe. In my first novel “Swap,” I had a character named The Ralph that was about 1,000 customers rolled up into one dispensing bar room wisdom faster than I could pour a shot.

RR:  Thank you, Sam, for the opportunity to interview you today. Before we go, will you tell our readers about your website and what additional information they can find there about “The Organ Grinder and the Monkey.”

Sam: Please visit my website www.samsstories.com. The best place to purchase the book is from Amazon.com or Xlibris.com. Barnes and Noble also carries it.

 

 

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