Two quick things: here is a piece I wrote for Mom.me about mom-friends, and here is an interview Kristin Maffei did with me!

Today's interviewee edited two anthologies that I think would make great holiday gifts this year. The first is Read Harder, which collects the finest essays from the second half of the Believer's (where she is the founding co-editor) ten-year run to date.The second is Women in Clothes (which she co-edited with Sheila Heti and Leanne Shapton), which is a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities--famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old--on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives. I am trying to decide if I want to get it for my mom or if I want her to get it for me. Additionally, Julavits' short stories have appeared in Harper's, Esquire, the Best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, among other places. Her nonfiction has appeared in Harper's, the New York Times, Elle, Bookforum, and the Best American Travel Essays. She had written four novels, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and winner of the PEN/New England Fiction Award. She currently teaches at Columbia University. And she also has a Tumblr!

What are you wearing right now? Why?
I want to be wearing my dad's torn-up jeans today but I have a meeting with a dean who is always in a suit. In deference to her, I am wearing wide-wale corduroy pants that stop just below the knee (are these capri pants? I'm not sure). In deference to my sloppy mood, I am wearing an old t-shirt inside-out. 


What were some elements you wanted to include in Women and Clothes that ultimately didn't make the cut?
We have probably one to two thousand pages of material we couldn't, for obvious reasons, fit into a book. We ended up editing for variety. We wanted the book to be as varied as possible. For that reason we didn't publish a really amazing shopping journal done as an excel file, or the interview about the meaning of punk with three nine-year-olds, or an interview with a classical musician. Among many hundreds of survey responses. But we tried to include at least one survey response from as many women as possible.


What was the most difficult part of creating and executing the book?
The distance--none of us were in the same place or even the same time zone for most of our busiest months. We used a dropbox and emailed constantly. My husband started to get a little tired of me being more "with" Sheila and Leanne over email than I was with my own family, sitting next to me on the couch.


What age range did you set out to portray in the book, and why?
The youngest contributor is 5, the oldest is a woman in her 90s. We wanted as broad an age range as possible, because your relationship to the questions really changes depending on how old you are. I would have answered all of our questions quite differently if I were 19; I imagine I'll answer them quite differently when I'm 68. 


My husband and I had a long conversation about this a little while ago: what is the difference between a man complimenting a stranger-woman's outfit and a woman doing it to another woman?
This is so complicated! Men, in my experience, don't tend to compliment my outfits or a specific item of clothing; they tend to say, more broadly, "you look good." Women tend to focus on specific items of clothing. They'll compliment a coat or a ring. I feel that it's the difference between looking and seeing. I prefer to be seen, rather than being looked at.


What do you say to the critique that there is a bias towards thin women in Women and Clothes?
We have many responses from women who have to contend with the "thinness" bias in the culture on a purely practical level--there are very few places for women to shop, for example, if they don't fit into the average 0-14 size range offered by most stores. But one survey question that prompted that critique is the one about whether or not you borrow clothes from friends or family members. I wouldn't have thought of this as a "thin bias" question, but as Roxane Gay said in her response, "no offense, but that's a thin girl question." I understand where she's coming from. That said, I still think it's an important question to ask, not least so that the bias can be exposed. 


How did you dress or think about the way you dressed differently after the book was published?
I really do try to dress for my mood. I want to be in conversation with my internal self. If I can make that connection, I feel like I've accomplished something. 


What's the last article of clothing or accessory that you bought that you love?
Socks. I love socks. I buy so many socks. When I was living in Germany last fall that's basically all I bought. The one nice thing about winter arriving is that I can dig out my thick, wool German knee-highs and remember how much pleasure they bring me. 



Off the top of your head, without looking through any previous issues or anthologies, what are three stories someone new to the Believer should read to get the best sense of what the magazine is about?
OOOOOO love this question! Ok. The story about Freud and surfing and LA and German modernist architects called "Gidget on the Couch" by Peter Lunenfeld. Leslie Jamison's piece about the intense mountain marathon called "The Immortal Horizon." A completely heartbreaking and frankly pretty difficult to read (because it's so intense) piece about a failing mill town in Maine and a missing and probably dead little girl called "Have You Seen Ayla Reynolds?" by Ron Currie Jr. 


When you are married to another writer, what is your setup for when and where you both write? Do have inner-marital guidelines of when you complain about writing so that you're not both doing it at the same time?
It's better when everyone's down or everyone's not. A happy person and a down person is sometimes not the best combination. 


You teach, edit, parent: how do you reserve energy and creative capacity write fiction on top of your other jobs?
The busier I am, the more committed I am to making writing time for myself. I have trouble writing when I have too much time on my hands. Everything feeds the beast. If there's no feeding, the beast goes to sleep.


In an interview about the Vanishers you talk about watching Lost: what TV shows are you watching now?
Nashville. I went to college with Connie Britton and am trying to figure out a way to approach her so we can hang out. Maybe mentioning her in this interview will make it happen. 


This question came from a friend of mine and fan of yours: how do you write (or try to write) for long periods of time without going crazy?
I don't. See above, the beast. This is why, though I love going to art colonies to make new friends, I think I need to stop going to art colonies. The solitude and the long hours of "nothing but writing" completely stymy me. I work better in earshot of my kids screaming.

How does it feel to be the 396th person interviewed for Zulkey.com?
Since I took so long to answer these questions, I'm probably now the 439th person. That feels about right.


Actually, you are 401. I hope that feels good!