SE: Well, I think it depends on what your expectations are. When we were out there we registered a couple hundred people. We did free readings. And we’ve been collecting a list of students that wanted to receive phone calls on Election Day from an author. They’re requesting a reminder phone call, students who live in swing states. And right now there are about a thousand, and they’re all students, because the request has to come from a university account.

It’s really just been pretty great, because if you think of the students only having 30 percent voter turnout, and now that they’ve requested a reminder call, research indicates that’s likely to get it up to about 70 percent. So we’re probably responsible for about 500 votes right now. So I think it’s great.

ZR: Do they get to pick which author gives them the reminder call?

SE: They don’t, but they ask anyway.

ZR: Who do they want?

ZR: Well a lot of them want [Dave] Eggers. A lot of them are coming through the McSweeney’s website, where they have a big posting up for it. So a lot of them are huge Dave Eggers fans.

ZR: Is it a real call or a recorded call?

SE: No no. It’s a real call. So each author is making 50 phone calls.

ZR: Could I get Philip Roth or someone to call me? … Oh — but I live in New York.

SE: Yeah, so no you couldn’t, because you have to live in a swing state. But basically if they request somebody, we’ll probably be able to honor their request, as long as they don’t request Dave Eggers. And if they request two or three different people, and they say one of these people, then we’ll probably be able to accommodate them.

ZR: In your book you mentioned you’re attracted to Republican women. I am too, frequently.

SE: Yeah, because I’m attracted to cold, evil women. There’s something about that, I don’t know why, but I’ve always liked women that were mean. When you look at Ann Coulter, she’s posing as a dominatrix in some leather vest on the cover of her book, and then she’s saying “I’m gonna take liberals to school and put them in the corner.” She’s trading on this fetish S&M language. It’s very hot.

ZR: I can’t say she really does it for me, but I know what you mean. Who else?

SE: Oh, I was more talking about people that I met on the road.

ZR: I find they’re often done up very nicely, with makeup and stuff.

SE: Yeah, and they wear tight executive outfits that don’t reveal anything, but they suggest so much.

ZR: Well, perhaps we should end it there.

Stephen Elliott will be appearing at the McSweeney’s Superhero Supply Store in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on October 21.

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