THE OTHER ROOM: EP. 169 - ANNA DORN
Real Housewives, dream castings, Anna's favorite things, & more!
Perfume & Pain Author Anna Dorn joined me in the Perfume Room earlier this week. Today, she returns with even more hilarious reflections, recommendations and riffs in The Other Room.
The Other Room is the official Perfume Room companion post-show. Every Tuesday, hear from guests on their episode of Perfume Room podcast, and on Fridays, enjoy bonus content from those same guests, exclusively on Substack!
Anna Dorn is the Los Angeles-based author of Perfume & Pain, Exalted, and others. Her next novel American Spirits is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster.
Chatting with Anna on the podcast felt like catching up with an old friend. The wit, specificity of detail, and relatability in her writing are just as much a part of who she is in conversation.
Enjoy this our post-show catch-up below :)
xx Emma
In your episode, we talked about some dream casting. Any other actors you'd cast (in a perfect world) to play the characters in this book?
Ooh, fun question! Alexa Demie as Ivy, I feel so strongly about that. Rachel Sennott as Astrid. I think she'd be so fun and she can play gay well lol (Shiva Baby, Bottoms). Kathryn Hahn for Penelope like I mentioned. My friend who Otto is based on wants Harris Dickinson to play Otto. My agent who Agent Allison is loosely based on wants Allison Williams, who I actually think would be perfect. Kat Gold is loosely based on Emrata but I feel like I'd want someone funnier to play her....
We forgot to pair Zev, Otto, and Agent Allison with scents! What would they wear?
I have thought about this! Zev wears Hinoki by Comme des Garçons x Monocle or Hwyl by Aesop. Otto wears Neroli Portofino by Tom Ford, or whatever the more grown-up version of that is. Agent Allison wears Delina (my actual agent wears it). On the podcast, I said that Kat Gold wears Santal 33, but I feel like Kat Gold today might wear Another 13 by Le Labo or Orphéon by Diptyque (because she's heard Santal 33 is basic and does NOT want to be basic).
How has being a writer changed who you are as a reader (if at all)?
I honestly was never a big reader until I started writing. I mean I read some, but I was more of a TV person. I'm a tad dyslexic so reading was hard for me as a kid. But then I started writing novels and realized I had to read them if I wanted to be better. I think there is a version of that line in the actual book. Like I said, Astrid and I have a lot in common! Anyway, now I read a lot. Probably a few books a week. So I guess writing novels turned me into an avid reader of them.
What are you reading right now?
Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard. It's really funny and ranty. I love a rant. I guess Perfume & Pain is a bit of a rant.
What was the first book you ever read that made you love reading?
Sideways Stories from Wayside School was one of the first books I loved reading. The whole Wayside School series. It was so freaking funny. In high school I loved the Confessions of a Shopaholic series. I was really into snappy British and Irish chick lit like Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes. In college I loved Bret Easton Ellis and Joan Didion.
Are there any other mediums/habits included in your writing routine?
I need to write to ambient music, no lyrics.
My go-tos for writing are Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works (I'm a bro like that), Jonny Greenwood’s scores, Mica Levi’s scores, and anything Alice Coltrane. I’m also addicted to my desktop computer. I wrote exclusively on a laptop for years, and I’d sometimes write in coffee shops. But now that I have a desktop computer and a proper office, I do all my writing here. I like to be able to control the music, my beverages, the temperature, and have a big ass screen. I would never go on a writing retreat. I need to be here in my home where I control everything. I should talk about all this in therapy. They say rigidity is the hallmark of mental unwellness!
Which fragrance brand do you think is telling the best stories right now?
I love Andrea Maack. Her style, her vibe, her hair, her scents, her copy, the fact that she lives on a biodome—all of it. I own a full bottle of Soft Tension, which is one of my favorite perfume names and descriptions: "As enveloping and silent as highland fog with a sumptuous lilt of tender freesia. Soft Tension is a mysterious shroud of velvet musk and earthy mate." Inject that shit into my veins.
Here is your Substack soapbox! What are your holy grails (in any category) that the people need to know?
Aesop vetiver deodorant. Every song Lana Del Rey has ever made. The film Grey Gardens. Homecourt Cipres Mint dish soap. The original Real Housewives of New York. GT's Elderberry Juniper Kombucha.
Oooo, is RHONY your favorite Housewives franchise? Fav cast member(s)?
I love pretty much every season of the original [RHONY], except maybe the COVID season? Sonja Morgan is my favorite cast member. She's a poet and a comedian. She's also gorgeous. And she has a good heart. Unlike a lot of them, she isn't petty or calculating. She's just messy. I also love Bethenny Frankel because I unfortunately relate to that particular brand of head-spinning, body dysmorphic neurosis she wears on her sleeve. Early Atlanta is my other favorite franchise/era. Phaedra Parks is another all-time fave. We're both former lawyers and authors (I went to her book signing in 2014 :). I was so happy when she had that comeback on Traitors last year. I just want her to thrive!
Any other post-interview epiphanies?
You asked me about the scents of Los Angeles neighborhoods, and I later thought, I should have said WeHo smells like poppers. But maybe that's gauche!
Should we conclude on astrology [answer: yes]. What are your big 3? Does they feel *right*?
Leo rising, Virgo sun, and Aquarius moon. And yes, unfortunately, they do feel right. The Leo rising makes me obnoxious and self-absorbed. The Virgo sun makes me OCD and finicky. The Aquarius moon makes me rebellious and terrible at processing my feelings.
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