My Best Friend is a Wookiee: Interview with Author Tony Pacitti
Modern mythology has the power to explain the struggles of humanity through its use of symbols. Tony Pacitti is the author of My Best Friend is a Wookiee: One Boy’s Journey to Find His Place in the Galaxy. Mr. Pacitti uses the language of Star Wars to write about his childhood and his ascension to adulthood. Nerd Caliber thanks him from taking the time from his schedule to answer a few questions about his book. If you are a fan of science fiction and are looking for something to read this summer that is entertaining and shares your love of the genre, look no further.
I was born in 1985, so my childhood was during the years between Star Wars’ original release and the big revival that happened with the Special Editions. I technically was with my parents at a drive-in screening of the trilogy but was only an infant. My first time seeing any of the movies and being aware of it was when I was seven. My mother showed me The Empire Strikes Back after a particularly miserable encounter with the other kids in my new neighborhood. It was love at first sight.
The idea came from years of obsessing over Star Wars. My introduction to the films and the theatrical releases–the special editions and the prequels–all lined up with universal, coming of age turning points. I use my “relationship” with the Star Wars movies as a framework for talking about growing up as the geeky kid, struggling to find one’s place, the coming and going of friends and early cracks at romance. There’s a lot of awkward teen angst in the book that I think a lot of people can relate to regardless of their feelings about Star Wars.
Do you think this book can help those trying to discover their self-identity and are fans of science fiction? How did Star Wars help you find yours?How Star Wars helped me initially was that it served as the common bond I had with the first handful of friends I actually felt comfortable being myself around. It was like a security blanket we had to hide us from the jerks at school. Empire also taught me a hard lesson, that the good guys don’t always win, but the important part is to always have hope that someday everything will turn out okay. After the prequels started coming out I found myself no longer able to bury my head in Star Wars. I may have drifted from something that was so important to me, but it sort of forced me to face a lot of issues head on instead of retreating home to lose myself in mountains of novels, comics and video games. In a weird way, the prequels helped me too.
What parts or chapters in the book were the most fun writing about? And the hardest?
A lot of the early book, which focused on my elementary school years, was a lot of fun. It was interesting to go through old toys and school projects and pictures and to sort of re-learn things that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. The last part of the book, which was set in college around when Episode III came out was the hardest. There was a short-lived romance that was tough to write about and since it was relatively recent at the time–at least compared to the stuff when I was a kid–a lot of those feelings came back much clearer than with other parts of the book.
Star Wars has become a permanent part of American culture, with clothing, language and even technology reflecting our love for Star Wars. Where do you see it changing in the near future?
Changing? I have no idea. It really shows no sign of stopping. The Clone Wars is still popular, there is another animated series in the works and a live action show that they’ve been talking about. Its a big, fun universe and I can’t imagine they’ll stop any time soon. That being said, I wonder how good it is for Star Wars to have things like Darth Vader spatulas. I own one, it flips a mean pancake, but at what point will certain images no longer be recognized as interesting, complex characters and start being seen simply as mascots? On the flip side, this Star Wars overload in our culture isn’t a bad thing for young geeks. Its much cooler to like Star Wars–and comics, video games, etc–than it was when I was a kid. It hasn’t brought world peace to the school yard but those interests don’t have to be hidden anymore.
What projects are your currently working on, or planning to work on?
I’ve been writing a column at ForcesOfGeek.com that covers westerns and that’s been a lot of fun. I never spent much time with that genre before now. Other than that I’ve spent the last few months on a project that I’m not quite ready to discuss, but I am working on something.
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