Audition

What distinguishes Katie Kitamura's narrative technique in Audition from her previous novels?

Audition employs a distinctive dual narrative structure where two competing versions of events unfold simultaneously, forcing readers to question which account is reliable. This represents an evolution from Kitamura's earlier work, where she typically used single, ambiguous perspectives. The technique creates a more complex exploration of truth and performance, as the two narratives actively rewrite and contradict each other throughout the novel, making it her most structurally ambitious work to date.

How does Kitamura's background in art criticism influence her approach to character and performance in this novel?

Having written extensively for publications like frieze and the Guardian on visual arts and culture, Kitamura brings a critical eye to how people construct and present themselves. Her art-world expertise informs the novel's examination of performance both on and off stage, treating everyday human interactions with the same analytical rigour one might apply to theatrical or artistic works. This perspective allows her to dissect the gap between public personas and private selves with particular sophistication.

What themes from Intimacies does Kitamura continue to explore in Audition?

Both novels investigate the unknowability of others and the instability of identity, but whilst Intimacies examined these through the lens of international institutions and displacement, Audition focuses on intimate relationships and creative partnerships. The question of how well we can truly know even our closest companions recurs, as does Kitamura's interest in women navigating positions of professional authority whilst managing complex personal entanglements. The theatrical setting in Audition provides a more explicit framework for exploring authenticity and deception.

How does the Manhattan setting function within the novel's exploration of performance and identity?

The New York theatre world provides a particularly apt backdrop for examining constructed identities, as it's an environment where professional performance and personal life constantly intersect. Manhattan's cultural landscape, with its emphasis on success, visibility and reinvention, amplifies the novel's themes about the roles people adopt in their daily lives. The city's intensity and the pressure-cooker atmosphere of rehearsals for a premiere create conditions where masks slip and true motivations become harder to conceal.

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