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Ben Tanzer: 99 Problems

in the category: Hella Sound

Need a good read? We talk with Ben Tanzer, author of a great running-centric book of essays, 99 Problems.

Jump to: Interview »  Contact Info »

As shown before, we at Hella Sound love talking with authors—especially those that get running and know in their bones what it’s all about. We were lucky to get the opportunity to speak with Ben Tanzer, the prolific Chicago word ninja and author of the new digital book, 99 Problems.

Interview

Hella Sound: I’m digging 99 Problems—reflection and thought resolution during a run is a common theme. A lot of people use running to cut out the mental noise for a while and be alone with their thoughts. And, as you discuss in the book, running and writing have a weird interrelationship
Ben Tanzer: I’m so happy to hear that, especially from runners. Yeah, for me there is definitely a weird interrelationship. And I think it cuts both ways.

Hella Sound: It seems like a symbiotic thing for you—you feed the running demon, and the running feeds your writing.
Ben Tanzer: Running allows me to clear through the clutter and tease through the various knots in my writing, but writing allows me more freedom as well, and so the running is better. Demon is a good word—or maybe demons—as is feeding, but writing comes out of demons, and running, after reading was definitely one of my earliest escapes.

Hella Sound: Yes, which you talk about in one of the essays.
Ben Tanzer: For sure, and either, I think, would be fine without the other. But better? No.

Hella Sound: The pacing of that segment—where you’re chalking up the laps—is really intense. The intensity of it really came through
Ben Tanzer: Good, that was a milestone of some kind, definitely the first time I recognized that something physical could be such a release. And it was a killer run, which are always awesome.

Hella Sound: Right—endorphins are not to be underestimated. Which (as a non-scientist/endocrinologist) makes me wonder: how much do endorphins and exercise physiologically contribute to thinking functionality… I guess you being a writer/social worker and me being a musician/tech guy are the two wrong people to pose that question to. We need a neurologist, stat.
Ben Tanzer: We may be wrong, and I’m no expert, but there is a lift and there is happiness and at those moments anything seems possible, which is when the most opportune anything has a chance to occur. Some people don’t need a boost, some people find it in different ways, and I’ve done much of the latter, but running is a (mostly) surefire way to get there.

Hella Sound: A glimpse of absolute optimism, even for the potentially pessimistic. Your compulsion to run I think is nearly universal with runners—it’s quite inspiring. You run when you’re sick, you run when you’re hungover, etc.
Ben Tanzer: For sure. I should say that I don’t really do pessimism. I’m very pessimistic about the state of the world, but rarely my place in it. That’s really narcissistic.

The compulsion is terrible, but its like writing for me, or sex; once the switch was flipped I began thinking about it all of the time, and when you think about something all of the time, you need that outlet regardless of personal or physical limitations. I would add that with running, though, the compulsion is also a perverse sense of pride. I did it. Again. And I felt terrible. So f*** you, whoever you are.

Hella Sound: You know, one glaring difference I think in how you talk about your writing (compared to others) is that you’re very warts-and-all. Runs aren’t perfect. They don’t even feel good—relatively frequently. It’s a big dose of realism compared to a lot of the novels and writing that has emerged, where, basically the heavens open up and the author is in a continual state of “Ooooh it’s a double rainbow!!!”
Ben Tanzer: Its funny, I’m happy to be open without being overtly personal, which may be a weakness, but the runs are what they are, and I wanted to show that. That said, I didn’t realize how miserable I am/was a lot of the time. And that makes me happy, I did want to be realistic. I don’t suffer as much while writing, but you get old, you want to be buff, or something, but you fall apart anyway, and it blows, and I can’t stand it, but I’m happy to share it.

Hella Sound: Do you race? It sounds like you’ve done the Chicago marathon. Clearly, though, for you running is not about beating Oprah’s time, or setting a new PR in the half—it goes far beyond that and far more integral to your life.
Ben Tanzer: I do race, sort of, though I’m too slow to call it racing. I have completed two Chicago marathons, one NYC marathon and one now defunct Lake County marathon. And once a year I do a 5k that is run to raise money for my office. Yes, I hope so, and to be clear I’m not sure I’ve beaten Oprah’s time. But running is something else, something cliche and desperate, and yes, integral, for balance, and happiness and all of it.

Hella Sound: Was the premise of this book a hard sell? Or did people immediately understand it?
Ben Tanzer: That’s a really good question. I think it appeals to several groups: runners have responded, just as something about running; some writers, who don’t run, and weren’t sure they would like it; and the runner writers, as well as—a subgroup I love—writers/reviewers who used to run and now want to again. There’s also the small group of Ben fans, but it is marketed as what it is, a writer runner you may know or heard of writes about that intersection, and the initial response has been pretty wide, pretty quick, and people seem to understand something.

I would add, that one reason it also seems to be working is that people really project their own stuff onto it. About aging. About parenting. About running. About writing. All of it.

Hella Sound: Jeez, no doubt—for me reading this is almost autobiographical: “witnessing” your thought process is like reading about my own when I run.
Ben Tanzer: People are taking it more personally than I would have ever expected. That to me is a triumph of sorts. If you feel like you get me, and that’s not too horrid, cool, but if you feel like I get you, victory.

Hella Sound: We do music for running, so most of the time I’m out I’m either road testing works in progress, or listening to rough mixes, or working through points in a song that I think could be just a little bit better. And it seems almost the exact same process for writers. These essays really brought that alive for me
Ben Tanzer: For sure, and for me, both, and that’s cool, I love to listen to music while I run and write and even do interviews. Some of it is motivation. Some of it is also emotion.

Hella Sound: Excellent segue—my next question is: Music plays an important part of your runs; what are some of your favorite musical discoveries of the last couple years?
Ben Tanzer: Love that question. Some favorites:
Be Your Own Pet.
Avail.
Ike Reilly. Big time.
The Hold Steady.
Jay-Z in a much bigger way.
Jamey Johnson.
DJ Z-Trip.
M.I.A..
Local H.
The Ramones.
more than ever.
Girl Talk.
x.
Fatboy Slim.

Hella Sound: I know it changes when you get older, get a job, make a family, etc, but do you get to see live music often? I was very into the Double Door, Lounge Ax, Elbo Room, the Metro, etc etc when I lived in Chicago
Ben Tanzer: So much less, its terrible, but I’ve also seen a lot of people I’ve wanted to see. The Hold Steady and Ike Reilly during the last year.

Hella Sound: Although, admittedly, I almost never go see bands anymore… Empty Bottle—Chicago’s a great, great city for music
Ben Tanzer: All killer spots. Metro is great. Also the Aragon.

Hella Sound: Are you yourself going on tour any time soon?
Ben Tanzer: Sort of. I hope. I have a new book coming out in February, inspired by and a homage to the music of The Hold Steady.

I have work travel this spring, NC, WI, WV and Atlanta and I have read in all those places and hope to again.

Hella Sound: Finally, the Google Maps “The Long Haul” mash-up is fantastic. Are you a tech enthusiast at all?
Ben Tanzer: Sick. Total credit to Jason Pettus at CCLaP for that.

Hella Sound: Righteous. It’s amazing how many cool things you can do these days with minimal effort and a little know-how
Ben Tanzer: I’m quasi-techie, not so good, but glad to try anything, and particularly drawn to social media. I do communications by day and anything that makes that work better, farther more quickly, I get geeked about.

Hella Sound: Well, thank you kindly for your time!
Ben Tanzer: Thanks to you, big thanks to Jason at CCLaP who had the original for me to try and do something like this, big thanks to the kind reviews so far and readers. The reaction to this joint has been the most surprising to me of anything I’ve done and its really humbling.

Hella Sound: Right on. Running is cool, man. Regardless of how bad short-shorts tried to make running seem in the 70s, it’s cool. It’s come up in the world.
Ben Tanzer: Way cool. Short shorts aside. I blame it on the era.

Contact Information

If you are interested in contacting Ben:

• URL: This Blog Will Change Your Life
• Twitter: twitter.com/bentanzer

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