Author Isabel Allende: A Life of Storytelling

Isabel Allende (0:00)

I think that's essential, love the process. And then blunch into it, as we blunch into life or into falling in love, you don't plan it, you don't have an outline, you don't have a manual, you don't have anything. And in the process of writing, things happen.

And you start getting all the juices and the universe conspires to help you.

Sam Fragoso (0:30)

Welcome to the show.

Today, writer Isabel Allende.

She's one of the most widely read authors in the world, with more than 80 million books sold across 40 some languages. Since her landmark debut, The House of the Spirits, Allende has built a body of work that moves between the political and the personal. Often drawing from her own experiences of exile, love and loss. Now, at 84 years old, a very youthful 84 years old, Allende has turned her attention to the act of writing itself. Her new memoir, Storytelling A Writing Life, looks back on nearly half a century spent making stories. That's where we begin today's conversation. But we also talk about her childhood in Chile. The advice writer Pablo Neruda gave to her as a young journalist, the 1973 coup that eventually forced her into exile, writing from a place of profound grief, her lifelong feminism and advocacy, love and marriage, and of course, what after all these years keeps her returning to the page. We taped this conversation with Allende in front of a packed, sold out house at the Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles. And so at the top, I want to give a special thanks to two people, Chris Simmons and Jacob Stein. They're part of How To Academy and put on this very, very special evening. I also want to thank everyone who showed up. As you'll hear, they were a very animated and attentive audience. And of course, I want to thank our guest, the one and only Isabel Allende.

You have reached the point, people love your work so much, that when you come on stage, I saw some people even standing up and applauding.

Isabel Allende (2:17)

Thank you. Does it happen to you?

Sam Fragoso (2:22)

Do they stand for me? Yeah, absolutely not.

Isabel Allende (2:24)

No, they definitely.

Sam Fragoso (2:26)

I'm so far from that. Since The House of the Spirits in 1981, round of applause.

Isabel Allende (2:32)

Yep.

Hey, we are not going to clap, OK? Because we interrupt and we don't have much time, so no clapping. And did you see the mini series of The House? Way better than the book. Don't miss it. Yeah.

Sam Fragoso (2:52)

January 8th, very special day for you.

Isabel Allende (2:55)

Yes.

Sam Fragoso (2:56)

All your books since then have begun on that day. And you said, you know, this is a good thing for me. It creates a lot of discipline in my life.

Where are you at in the process of the next book?

Isabel Allende (3:11)

Well, I'm three months away from January 8th, and I finished something, so I'm desperate.

Sam Fragoso (3:16)

Okay.

Isabel Allende (3:17)

And also my family is desperate, because when I finish a book, I mean, they like to see me behind a closed door, quiet, and the moment I emerge from the den, they panic because I start painting the doors and changing the furniture and adopting another dog and then life gets messy. So it's not good for me to finish a book too early in the year.

Sam Fragoso (3:43)

You said that, quote, I have a split personality, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When I'm writing, all my thoughts are engaged in the process. I'm happy, calm, focused. And then it goes on to say, but this idyllic situation is dramatically reversed when the book is finished. So what do you do now that you're done early?

Are you okay?

Isabel Allende (4:05)

As I said, I painted all the doors of my house Dutch blue. A wall, a mango color is becoming like a Mexican restaurant.

And my husband is from New York. He doesn't understand what's going on. He's desperate, him too.

Sam Fragoso (4:24)

So they're eagerly anticipating January 8th again?

Isabel Allende (4:26)

Absolutely. Okay.

Sam Fragoso (4:27)

That's good. I just wanted to clear the air.

Isabel Allende (4:28)

You know, the idea would be to put me in a cruise around the world.

And as soon as I touch port, put me in another cruise around the world. That would be ideal for them.

Sam Fragoso (4:40)

I'm sure they love you very much and are very happy that you're there.

Isabel Allende (4:42)

Sure.

Sam Fragoso (4:45)

Not convinced at all. Okay.

This new book of yours, Storytelling a Writing Life, it oscillates back and forth between the past and present, tracing not only how you write, but how you came to be a writer. And so I want to start here. Do you think it's possible to be a writer if you had a happy childhood?