The disparate elements brought into one story. I was writing that initial memorial party scene and I didn’t know particularly that this was going to be a long term character, I just needed to write someone coming up and greeting Yale-and this guy emerged as a tremendous flirt and very silly and very fun and then became a really major part of the book-to the point that I thought for a while about making him the narrator of it.” (5) 7. Somehow he came really easily to me he was someone who just sort of presented himself in scene.

“He’s that friend everyone has who’s kind of stupid but they love him anyway. One of Makkai’s favorite characters in the book is Julian.

Makkai used a lot of primary sources for her research, including gay weeklies published during the crisis and interviews with survivors and caregivers. Very little was written about the AIDS crisis in 1980s Chicago–most nonfiction accounts were in New York and San Francisco. When asked what kept her motivated, she responded that this photo was her computer wallpaper during that time. Makkai worked on the novel over four years. That’s how the Challenger explosion came to be part of The Great Believers–it was an event that definitely would have affected the characters. Makkai keeps a Google calendar of major world events set during the years in which her novels are set. “Ultimately, it worked for me because this wasn’t just a character-driven novel where all the conflict comes out of people’s own flaws it’s a novel about the ways the world comes at you no matter who you are or what you do.” (3) 3. Moving the timeline presented its own set of difficulties, so she needed to incorporate the attacks into the story. It wasn’t something that could be left out of a story set in Paris in 2015. Makkai was writing Fiona’s story, set in 2015 Paris, when the 2015 terrorist attacks happened there. Makkai started getting interested in the “art guy” she was talking to, who became the character Yale Tishman. The subplot of the book involving Nora, an elderly woman who was an artist’s muse in the 1920s Paris art community, was originally the focus. Rebecca Makkai did not originally set out to write a novel about the AIDS crisis. You must be a registered user to use this feature.11 Things to Know About The Great Believers 1. You must be a registered user to use this feature.

Notice an error or discrepancy? Send us a comment about this quotation.

View all 47 Thomas Jefferson quotations.

View a Detailed Biography of Thomas Jefferson.

Quotation #31912 from Michael Moncur's (Cynical) Quotations: I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.

The great believer