Q&A: The New Yorker’s Susan Orlean on why she treasures ‘the stuff of life’

Yes, really, Susan Orlean, author of “The Orchid Thief” and “The Library Book” and a million memorable pieces at The New Yorker, faces the same challenge as every other carpal-tunneled striver stumbling toward a deadline. Every fresh burst of vibrant, confident words she creates comes with the possibility that they will suddenly stop.

Writing is a job and a miracle. It’s at the center of Orlean’s fantastic memoir, “Joyride,” (Avid Reader Press, $30, Oct. 14), which also serves as a nonscolding guide to navigating that peculiar life. Orlean, 69, is still learning. Her refusal to be static, personally and professionally, courses through the book.

“I’ve kind of poured my heart and soul out in a way I never have, and the consequence of that, I think, is that you feel a connection that’s really different from when you’re writing about an orchid thief or a movie star dog,” Orlean said in a Zoom call with Poynter last month. “It’s so much closer. That’s a little scary, but it’s also kind of thrilling to think, ‘Wow. It feels like I’m gonna have a conversation with anyone who reads the book.’”