A New West Interview

Five Questions for Michael Finkel

By Allen M. Jones, 9-19-05

New West In writing True Story you were in close contact with Christian Longo for roughly a year, up until his trial and conviction. Compelled by your curiosity and your writing project, I imagine it had to be an occasionally uncomfortable situation, dealing so closely with a man who was capable of murder. What internal mechanisms did you use (rationalizations / reconciliations) to navigate the tension between your personal contact and your professional curiosity?

Michael Finkel Every aspect of my correspondence with Christian Longo was fraught with moral hazards. I never felt entirely comfortable with any facet of our relationship. There was always some internal tug-of-war going on, part of me wanting to abandon all contact with Longo, part of me intrigued and deeply curious. I never quite made peace with these opposing forces, but of course I did, until after the trial, continue my relationship with him. What tipped the scale, I suppose, was the absolutely compelling nature of the material, my bizarre connection to the case, the fact that I was working on a story that could help turn around my career, and the very rare (and quite frightening) opportunity to peek into the mind of a murderer.

NW Longo apparently has an IQ approaching genius. He was obviously an avid reader. At one point you write that, in his correspondence to you, Longo felt that "he was finally growing into the role he’d assumed in Mexico. He felt like he was becoming a real writer." Given his interest in your work and personality, could he indeed have been a journalist? What are the traits that define a good journalist (and did he have them)?

MF I believe that Longo could have been a fine journalist. He had many of the ideal traits -- that is, an unquenchable curiosity about the world, a lack of shyness about approaching and speaking with strangers, a willingness to travel, often uncomfortably, and an ability to put together a coherent pile of paragraphs. Of course, journalism is a low-paying profession, especially at the outset of one's career, and the travel can be very tough on a person with children. Longo married when he was extremely young (age 19) and had three children by his mid 20s, and it was these factors that really made journalism a near-impossible pursuit. I feel that Longo always harbored some anger over having to give up a lifelong dream for the sake of his family, and a piece of this resentment may have factored into the motivation for the murders.

NW What did you learn about yourself from the time you spent with Longo?

MF I saw, firsthand, the price one can pay for dishonesty, how a few small lies can spiral completely out of control, and how an obsession with putting on a front of complete success can eventually lead to disastrous results.

NW At the end of True Story, we’re left with the impression that your very complicated friendship with Christian Longo has fallen apart. That you’ve more or less broken off all ties. Do you know if he’s read this book? If so, what were his thoughts?

MF For nearly a year, as I wrote the book, Longo and I did not speak. However, in recent months, there has been a bit of superficial contact. He has read the book. He can't dispute any of the facts, of course -- everything is in a letter, a tape-recorded phone conversation, or taken from court transcripts -- but he did tell me he was "disappointed" in the book. It was the "tone," he said, that he didn't like. And in the spots where I proffered my opinion -- like how the murders really occurred -- Longo said that he vehemently disagreed with me. Nothing he's said since I've completed the book, however, has made me consider rewriting a single paragraph.

NW It seems that you must have written True Story, at least in part, to find some measure of professional redemption. You suffered a (self-inflicted) blow from which it would be difficult for any writer, no matter how talented, to recover. Has writing this book revitalized your career? What are you working on now?

MF After The New York Times fired me, the newspaper conducted a thorough investigation into all the other stories I'd written. They found, essentially, nothing -- a spelling mistake and an inconsequential numerical error. The Times printed a second editor's note, announcing these findings, and after this note appeared, several editors in the magazine world were once again willing to hire me. In other words, even if there was no Longo, I'd still have been able to revive my career. That said, working on True Story helped me revitalize my career far faster than working my way back up the magazine ranks, and it also opened a door into the world of books -- a world I'd like to remain in. I don't have a specific topic at the moment, but I'm working on organizing some ideas for my next book. Please stay tuned.

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