Direct Answer
Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has said that Meg Wolitzer’s novel The Interestings affected both her artistic perspective and practical work: it gave her emotional and narrative material as she adapted the book into a stage musical and shaped how she processed grief and nostalgia.
What the Novel Opened Up for Her
How Bareilles encountered the book
Bareilles first read Meg Wolitzer’s novel after it was sent to her as a potential project for adaptation. The story resonated strongly, prompting her to explore new musical and dramatic approaches and ultimately move forward with a stage adaptation.
Creative and personal effects
Reading The Interestings offered Bareilles a way to translate complex feelings—about mortality, talent, and the bittersweet pull of memory—into songwriting and theatrical storytelling. She has described the book as catalyzing a change in how she writes and what she chooses to write about.
Concise Evidence and Context
- Adaptation: The novel became the source material Bareilles chose to adapt for the stage.
- Emotional impact: The book helped her work through a five-year period marked by loss; it provided language and structure for processing grief.
- Artistic shift: The Interestings opened creative avenues she had not explored since writing Waitress.
Key Quote
“Great love and great loss are just braided together.” — Sara Bareilles
Deeper Read: Themes That Mattered to Her
Nostalgia and identity in her music
Bareilles connected the novel’s attention to the passage of time and shifting identities with her own lifelong tendencies toward introspection and empathy. That connection encouraged songs and stage material grounded in ordinary lives altered by change.
From private grief to public work
At a time when she experienced multiple bereavements, the novel supplied metaphors and emotional clarity that she could channel into composition—turning private sorrow into material suitable for an audience while preserving intimacy.
Where to hear more from Bareilles
A longer conversation about this influence appears on the Books That Changed My Life YouTube channel, where she discusses how the book entered her creative process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What book did Sara Bareilles discuss?
She talked about Meg Wolitzer’s novel The Interestings, which she read after it was proposed as a project to adapt for the stage.
How did the book impact her career?
The novel gave Bareilles both the emotional perspective and the narrative framework that led her to compose and pursue a stage musical adaptation.
What is Sara Bareilles’s new album called?
Her album that explores themes of loss and transformation is titled Good Grief.
Conclusion
Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings served as a turning point for Sara Bareilles: it influenced the stories she wanted to tell, provided a way to work through personal loss, and became the backbone of a theatrical project. The book’s examination of time, talent, and the entwining of joy and sorrow helped shape her recent creative choices.
About the Guest: Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles is a singer, songwriter, actress, and composer whose credits include hit pop songs and the Tony-recognized score for the musical Waitress. She continues to write, record, and develop theater projects.
Related Links
Related reading on techypopat.com: Revealed: The Book Behind Margaret Cho’s Rock Culture View; Revealed: The Book That Guided Susan Lucci Out of Grief.
