Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Stephanie Gangi's "The Next"

Stephanie Gangi is a writer living and working in New York City. The Next, now out from St. Martin’s Press, is her debut. She is a published poet compiling a chapbook, and is at work on her second novel.

Here Gangi dreamcasts an adaptation of The Next:
Cinematic, cinematic, cinematic, that’s what readers say. That’s what the literary agents say. That’s what the CAA guy says.

I’m still waiting for the call, Hollywood. Female directors, hellooo?! I’ve given you a complex woman and her younger lover. There are hipster sisters. For goodness sakes, there’s an irresistible dog! The plot serves up revenge, magical realism, the mysteries of love and loss and a haunted dive bar in Manhattan. Bonus: a soundtrack featuring Fleetwood Mac, the Roots, Gotye, Citizen Cope, U2, Elvis Costello and Fiona Apple, Talking Heads, the Rolling Stones, Patti Smith. And Adele. Adele!

Here are my picks for above-the-line players:

Director
  • Jane Campion for Top of the Lake and everything
  • Lisa Cholodenko for Top of the Lake
  • Sofia Coppola for everything
  • Mary Harron for American Psycho
  • Alejandro González Iñárritu for 21 Grams, Birdman, Babel, and fine, all the Oscars
  • Patty Jenkins for The Killing
  • Jennifer Kent for The Babadook
  • Mimi Leder for The Leftovers
  • Ida Lupino because she was the only woman to direct a Twilight Zone episode, also The Hitch-Hiker and The Trouble with Angels. I know she’s dead, but so’s the protagonist. Think of the insights!
  • Sam Taylor-Johnson because I secretly loved Fifty Shades of Grey (and I believe she has a younger husband.)

Characters

Joanna DeAngelis, late forties to early fifties, boho, blonde, dead for most of the book but a big presence. Half of the novel is narrated by Jo. It’s a tour de force part for:
  • Tilda Swinton, because she looks otherworldly and is brilliant
  • Diane Lane because of the scene on MetroNorth in Unfaithful
  • Maura Tierney because of the scene in The Affair when she dances in Spanx to Lucinda Williams
  • Kate/Cate, duh
  • Julianne Moore, also possesses an otherworldly quality, is complex, and a New Yorker

Ned McGowan, rock star professor at Columbia, early thirties with mismatched eyes and a shock of white through his black hair
  • Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey)
  • Rupert Friend (Homeland and everything else)
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Walk, Don Jon, Inception)
  • Theo James (Divergent)
  • James McAvoy (X-Men, Wanted, Atonement)
  • Eddie Redmayne (everything)

The sisters, Anna and Laney, 26 and 22
  • The Mara sisters, Rooney and Kate
  • Kristin Stewart for Anna
  • Zoe Kazan for Laney

Tom, the big poodle
Visit Stephanie Gangi's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Stephanie Gangi & Enzo.

--Marshal Zeringue
Posted by at