Work of HEART

Creativity isn't dead, says Joyride author Susan Orlean. In fact, it might be the thing we need most of all.

- BY LAUREN PUCKETT-POPE

I've called Susan Orlean to discuss creativity, but I can't stop staring at the poster-size playing card propped up behind her chair.

The Queen of Hearts grimaces back at me while the legendary New Yorker staff writer—and author of nine books, the latest of which is Joyride, out October 14—basks in her glass room of curiosities. Her iconic red hair and berry-colored lipstick stand in stark contrast to the riot of vegetation behind her, kept at bay only by the floor-to-ceiling windows that separate her office from the wilderness outside. On the desk to her right are a book, a downy teddy bear, and a typewriter the shade of key lime pie.

I've prepared for where this conversation will take us: I have, of course, read Orlean's work, scratching notes in the margins of her books and preparing my interview questions, all centering on a thought that's been rattling around my head lately: Is creativity a matter of urgency? Or is that the self-important notion of, say, a self-proclaimed creative? Still, when Orlean and I log off, I find myself distracted not by this question but by the contents of her house. All I've seen of it is the office, the teddy bear, the glass. I want to see more.