SOURCE: Ford, Richard, and Huey Guagliardo. “A Conversation with Richard Ford.” Southern Review 34, no. 3 (summer 1998): 609-20.

In the following interview, conducted on July 25, 1997, Ford discusses his use of narrative voice, the influence of Walker Percy on his writing, and his use of the novella form in the volume Women with Men.

Richard Ford is the author of five novels, including The Sportswriter (1986) and its sequel Independence Day (1995). He has also published a well-received book of stories, Rock Springs (1987), as well as a collection of related novellas, Women with Men (1997). This interview was conducted on July 25, 1997, in the relaxed atmosphere of Ford's townhouse on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, a residence that in its rich and eclectic appointments reflects Ford's nomadic existence over the last two decades.

[Guagliardo]: Let's begin by talking about your most recent work, Women with Men, a collection of novellas. I'm interested in why you...