Here is the second part of this scintillating interview series.
Mr Charlap, you claim to aspire to be the greatest novelist of the 21st century. What evidence do you have that you are capable of being so?
God tells me so.
God?
God.
God?
Why is this so hard to believe?
You believe you speak to God?
I believe a voice speaks to me telling me He is God.
But this voice is God?
I guess?
How do you think it's God?
Because He tells me so.
And you don't think you've incorporated this voice over time as a kind of trauma response to difficulties?
Gee. Why didn't I ever think of that...
Mr. Charlap are you being sarcastic?
What makes you think that?
...
Why do you believe this voice is God?
Who says I believe it's God.
You just did.
All I said was that a voice speaks to me and tells me He's God.
And I asked why you think it's God, and you say 'because He tells me so.'
I didn't say I think He's God. You asked me why I'd believe Him.
I asked you why you do believe him.
Oh.
Well do you believe him?
Yes.
...
How long has he spoken to you?
Twenty-six years.
That's a surprisingly long time to be carrying a voice with you that you tell no one about.
Indeed, maybe if I gave Him a book to express Himself He'd leave me alone.
Is that why you're writing this book?
One of the many reasons.
What are some of the others?
Aren't you interviewing me so you can find out?
Yes.
...
...
...
so why won't you answer the question.
Oh but I will.
Why haven't you?
You haven't asked.
I just did!
Oh...
...
...
Can you please answer so the rest of us can understand? I'm afraid I don't experience the voice, therefore I can't tell whether what you hear is God or not.
Oh but you do hear it. You're me.
I'm you?
You didn't know?
Well it would explain why we experience all the same things.
So you haven't heard the voice?
I just assumed it was me.
Assume away but I assume it's God.
I always assumed it was a complex trauma response from deep mental pressure and delusion.
Who says it's delusion?
I suppose I did.
Suppose away..,
...
...
Do you really think it's not possible that your imagination got overactive during certain later high school years when you had insufficient creative and social outlet?
Oh, like the trauma response?
(sighs) Yes, I suppose, like the trauma response...
Gee, why didn't I ever think of that...
Why are you being sarcastic again?
Who says I'm being sarcastic?
You seem very flustered with me right now.
I'm not flustered.
But you're frustrated?
Yes.
May I ask why?
If you must...
...
...
Mr. Charlap, you may want to consider that you need serious help.
That is all going into the novel.
Is writing a book a sufficient substitute for therapy?
Is therapy a sufficient substitute for writing a book?
...
In our previous interview you said that you field the questions upon which God is silent. Does this mean that God tells you the answers to questions for which he has previously held silence?
No.
...
So what then is the point of writing this book?
What then is the point of writing this interview?
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