Interviews with Andrew Vachss
Online Chats with Andrew Vachss
Lock Them Up Longer, Sell Their Stuff: How To Curb Child Pornography
Vachss argues that the way to fight this crime is by making it more expensive to commit. "Civil forfeiture gained prominence during the so–called 'war on drugs,' and gained strength with the evolution of RICO statutes," Vachss said in an interview with the National Association to Protect Children, which he serves as a board member. "Now civil forfeiture is possible for a whole variety of crimes (including child pornography, under Title 18 United States Code 2254) but the laws involving forfeiture for drug trafficking or money laundering tend to be much stronger than those for other crimes. For example, there are expansive multi–national civil forfeiture laws when narco–trafficking is involved." Mint Press News, October 29, 2013
Book Notes — Andrew Vachss' Aftershock
"In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. In his own words, here is Andrew Vachss's Book Notes music playlist for his novel, Aftershock." Largehearted Boy, June 14, 2013
We Make Our Own Monsters: An interview with Andrew Vachss
"By this point in the long game, I've interviewed a lot of crime writers. Elmore Leonard once read me the opening chapter of a novel—while he was in the middle of typing it up. I spoke with Walter Mosley and Donald E. Westlake within the same two–hour window one Christmas eve. Go toe–to–toe with Richard Price and you'll come out of it feeling like the losing end of a prizefight. But there is nothing in the world like a sit–down with Andrew Vachss." Clayton Moore, Kirkus, June 11, 2013
Author At Lit Fest Says Work After Books Are Published Has Changed Dramatically
"Aftershock [is] about the effect of post traumatic stress syndrome . . . on people who treat it." John Cody, CBS Radio, June 08, 2013
Guardian of the Innocent: A Conversation with Andrew Vachss
Also available in Russian (http://bit.ly/2jgpEy0)
"Aftershock is really about America's 'rape culture,' a culture so pervasive that there's no place immune to it. There's no safe place from it. If this sounds like an outrageous accusation to you, just check the recent events in Steubenville, Ohio. Young men commit atrocities, and get treated as juvenile offenders, while the victim is the target of Internet threats traced to young girls in that same town. It's hideous enough to be the victim of a sex crime, but a thousand times worse when the community appears to side with the perpetrators."
BoroPulse.com, May 20, 2013.
Litmocracy interview with Andrew Vachss
"I didn't devise [Burke's] world. It exists. It's real. It's out there, but most of the planet ignores it because it's convenient. News stories come on every day about kids meeting horrible fates in Africa, in Somalia, in inner cities here, and people just turn the channel. I guess they think that's what God made remotes for. That's a large part of the problem. Like it or not, that world exists and has for centuries. Burke doesn't seek out pedophiles, he seeks out predatory pedophiles and child abusers. There's a big difference. Predatory pedophiles, by definition, have sexual urges they act upon towards children, emotional urges some [argue], but ones they act upon in a physical way. By force. By trickery. By any and all kinds of means. Burke found them and he killed them. I wanted to expose readers to a dark part of the world that exists, and I didn't want them to be introduced to it by an angelic figure."
Dave Marsh's "Live from the Land of Hopes and Dreams"
If you want to know why crime-boss Lansdale in That's How I Roll named his daughter Patsy, listen to the audio file below: Andrew Vachss on Dave Marsh's "Live from the Land of Hopes and Dreams" Sirius XM radio show on April 29, 2012. It starts with a track by Kasey Lansdale!
Blood, Kin and Structure: A Conversation between Andrew Vachss and Joe R. Lansdale
"The first thing that people will tell you about a Louisiana swamp, if you've ever been there, is they'll look you right in the eye and say there's worse things than gators out there, son. And they're not joking. Noises made at night, they don't care to investigate those noises." Published in two parts, on March 27 and March 28, 2012, by Mulholland Books.
Rob W. Hart's "A Conversation with Andrew Vachss"
Also available in Russian (http://bit.ly/2jlb2T8)
"I don't meet a whole lot of people without an agenda, so I don't know what's really in their mind. All I can do is be consistent and truthful. Am I shocked that the NAMBLA bulletin called me a fascist? No. But do I think they're objective reviewers? Of course not. Any more than I think most book reviewers could be objective, I don't know how they could be. The whole concept of book reviewing is, 'You people are a bunch of sheep and I know what's best and I'll point you in that direction.' What are the qualifications for being a book reviewer?" Published by The Cult, the official website of Chuck Palahniuk, on December 15, 2010.
Ken Bruen's "A Conversation with Andrew Vachss"
"Who but a terminal narcissist would set out to write an 18–book series? I expected Flood to be my one chance in the ring, which is why it is so long: I threw every punch I could in the first round." Published by MulhollandBooks.com on November 05, 2010.
Trey Bundy's column, "Healing the Wounds of Bullying with 'Yes' "
"Heart Transplant brought all of [those hard memories] back to me, and it didn't sit easy. But I'm thankful the book has arrived. I wish it had been around when I was starting out [working in group homes], uneducated, untrained. I hope families and teachers and kids will read it because it's for anyone seeking to answer the question: How do you take a kid who has been taught to hate himself, and help him learn to feel worthy of love?" Published by The Bay Citizen on October 27, 2010.
John Geddes' USAToday article, "Heart Transplant a passionate lesson about bullying"
"Our culture has integrated bullying into the daily norm. People talk about all of these adoptive strategies, but really all anyone is learning is a way to fit themselves into the food chain. The point we're making is that if you put up a fight, if you stand your ground, you can't lose. That's it." Published by USAToday on October 20, 2010.
John Seven's Publishers Weekly article, "Andrew Vachss: Fighting Bullies One Book at a Time"
"Fighting means you could lose. Bullying means you can't. A bully wants to beat somebody, he doesn't want to fight somebody." Published by Publishers Weekly on October 19, 2010.
Brent Chittenden's "Just A Thought" column
"Heart Transplant tackles the subject of bullying right at its center. Not quite a graphic novel, not quite an illustrated book, Heart Transplant is looking to be a perennial book for kids, parents, teachers and librarians." Published by ComicBookDaily.com on October 14, 2010.
Ross Thompson's Interview with Andrew Vachss on Another Life
Also available in Russian (http://bit.ly/2sQeKqM)
"I made a commitment when I started writing the series that it wasn't going to be this stupid, plastic private eye crap where somebody stays 35 or 40 years. ... This is a family of choice, which means that their highest commitment is to protect their children, and the only way to do that is to make their children go on to another life. They cannot bring those children into the family business. That's where that decision has to be made and that's where the series ends." Originally published February 2009 by Scottish entertainment magazine AU. [pdf 211 KB]
Ross Thompson's Complete Interview with Andrew Vachss
There was more to Mr. Thompson's interview than could be included in the AU piece linked to above. But he included all of it on his website.
An Interview with Andrew Vachss on Another Life
"My goal was not to raise consciousness, but to raise anger. Ours is a country where anything can be accomplished if enough people get angry... because, in America, we act on our collective anger. If you want proof of how that works, just take a look at how New York State finally closed the hated (and virtually unknown) 'incest exception.'"
Read the Amazon Q&A about Another Life by clicking here and scrolling down the page.
Andrew Vachss Conversation with C.A. Webb
Why is there no tour for the release of Another Life? What's the Wednesday, January 14, 2009 webcast all about? Hear Andrew Vachss explain it all, on "Conversations Live!" with C. A. Webb, broadcast on December 30, 2008, by clicking here
Attorney Calls For Crusade Against 'Evil' Of Child Porn
"Andrew Vachss ... wants to raise the stakes for people who look at child pornography online. He wants mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of possessing child porn. He wants the government to negotiate treaties with foreign countries to shut down servers that host child–porn sites. He wants child abuse to be part of the debate in this year's presidential race. What Vachss does not want is to hear arguments like the one made by the attorney for former Pfizer executive Alan Hesketh, who ... said at a bond hearing that his client should be released from prison to get help for a 'sexual disorder.'" Read Karen Florin's entire article, as published April 11, 2008, by The Day.
Between the Covers with Ed Goldberg
"[Burke's] a thief. He hates people who prey on children. Not because he loves children—because he was preyed on. He wants to get even, that's his revenge. And his revenge and his religion are exactly the same thing. He sees it as an 'us and them' world. He's not really concerned if you're rich or poor, black or white—if you prey on children and you cross his path, it's going to be bad for you." Listen to Ed Goldberg's 26–minute interview of Andrew Vachss, broadcast January 1, 2008, on KBOO radio.
Andrew Vachss Conversation with Dave Marsh
Andrew Vachss sat down with legendary music journalist Dave Marsh for his SIRIUS Radio show, "Kick Out the Jams." If you missed the original broadcast on November 11, 2007, you can listen to the interview portion of the show, right here.
Terminal, A Killing Frost Authors in Town
"I like the idea of writers actually supporting each other for a change instead of kissing each other's behinds for blurbs or stabbing other people in the back." That's Andrew Vachss, speaking about fellow author Michael A. Black in Dan Pearson's article, published October 10, 2007, by the Pioneer Press Group.
Andrew Vachss interview with Tony Black
"I would never put 'family' in quotes. My family is the one I chose—and the one that chose me. The only DNA Burke cares about is what might be left at a crime scene. Me, too. In my world, you are what you do. If you ever run across one of my brothers or sisters, you'll understand that. Quickly." Read Tony Black's extensive interview with Andrew Vachss, as published originally in four parts on PulpPusher.com, September/October 2007.
Andrew Vachss Interview with Peter Bochan
While on tour for Mask Market in September 2006, Andrew Vachss was interviewed by Peter Bochan for the radio program, "All Mixed Up," broadcast in New York City on WBAI.
Just Kidding: Andrew Vachss Writes Crime Novels—for the Children
"I'm an American, I know what's required for Americans to take action. They need to get angry. The books are vehicles to make people angry." Read the entirety of Peter Pavia's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published August 13, 2006, by the New York Post.
Take Note
"Investigative journalism is, in my view, all that protects American democracy, and I believe it to be at risk. I speak to audiences all the time, and when you speak to audiences of young people and you say, 'Name a famous journalist,' you get Jason Blair, you get Stephen Glass. And when you say to them, 'For crying out loud, why do you see these people as famous icons?,' [the answer you get is,] 'Well, they made movies about them, didn't they? I mean, they wrote books, didn't they? They're actual celebrities, aren't they?' If anybody else had so grossly betrayed the credo of their profession, you wouldn't think they'd be lionized. But journalism? Hey. ... So blogging, for example, which, because it's unregulated, is supposedly the antidote to 'government–controlled journalism'—and by unregulated, I don't mean the government's not involved but [that] there are no standards for it—this one's fantasy and this one's truth are indistinguishable by the blind consumer at the other end of the computer." Listen to Patty Satalia's entire 30–minute interview with Andrew Vachss, originally broadcast on Take Note, November 20, 2005, on WPSU–FM, the public broadcasting station out of Penn State University.
CNN Newsnight with Aaron Brown
"We take the violent, predatory, chronic offender. It's astounding to me that a state could literally say a person is a sexual psychopath and then pronounce him either cured or having paid his debt to society. Neither makes any sense." Read the rest of Andrew Vachss' comments about sexual predators here.
Raising the Stakes for Child Pornography: PROTECT's Exclusive Interview with Andrew Vachss
"[I]f we are to wage war [against child pornographers], we must know our enemy. We need to know more about those who create this unspeakable 'product,' why they do it and the various ways it is used ... The question then becomes: What can we do?" Learn more about Andrew Vachss' February 19, 2006 cover feature for PARADE—and read an exclusive Q&A with Mr. Vachss that more than doubles the information in the original article—by clicking here. [note: link opens in new window]
Reinventing Vachss
"[With Two Trains Running,] Vachss is doing no less than taking aim at a collective villain far above pedophiles and maniacs: the government, a vast amorphous coercion machine whose very figurehead (the president) obviously doesn't have both hands on the wheel. And Vachss' remedy (or at least his last line of defense) against this is: Journalism." Read all of Adam Dunn's article, "Reinventing Vachss," originally published January 6, 2006, on Cobrapost News Features.
Interview: Andrew Vachss, Author
"It seems to me that he exposes you to the truth, that he puts you on the spot, that he interviews you, all of these things, so that he can affect some change in you. It is the reason he writes, after all." Read Thomas Scott McKenzie's article about meeting Andrew Vachss, as posted at SlushPile.net on September 2, 2005.
Andrew Vachss Interview with Craig McDonald
"In his autobiography, former President Bill Clinton credits [Andrew] Vachss with [writing the National Child Protection Act] and notes how important it was to him and wife Hillary. But there's a catch, according to Vachss: 'It's never been funded.'" Read the entirety of Craig McDonald's article, as published July 14, 2005, in Ohio's ThisWeek newspaper.
Andrew Vachss Interview with Duane Swierczynski
"Journalism is the one thing that protects us. There's a history of crusading, let–the–chips–fall–where–they–may journalists. But that's given way to 'advocacy journalists,' who have left– or right–wing biases. That doesn't make sense. The only thing a journalist should worship is the truth." Read Duane Swierczynski's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published July 7, 2005, in the Philadelphia CityPaper.
Andrew Vachss Interview with Dan Webster
"[A]nybody who has served in combat in any way understands that words are weapons. And I'm in a war. The war hasn't stopped. I've always used the books as a blunt instrument." Read Dan Webster's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published June 19, 2005, by the Spokesman Review, during the release of Two Trains Running.
Justice, Rage, Retribution & Vachss
Also available in Russian (http://bit.ly/2j63T9a)
"[C]an you be noble as you practice violence, extortion, blackmail, even mass murder? The struggle to be free from oppression is, in my mind, per se noble. But noble causes attract a wide range of participants, and many would fall far short of nobility." Read more of this interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published at Amazon.com, May 2005.
Interview with Andrew Vachss, Author & Attorney
Over the years, The Zero has brought you a wide range of Andrew Vachss interviews. Here's one, from Scene Missing Magazine, January 2005, that's a bit of a departure from what you may be used to, but nonetheless quite clearly illustrative of the Vachss perspective.
Take Note
"We don't distinguish between the various forms of child abuse. Emotional abuse ... is pretty much ignored. When someone spends their life being told, 'You're stupid, you're a disgrace, I should have aborted you, you ruined my life,' it scars them in ways that are almost impossible to describe with words. And yet, such a person describing their life would be told, 'Oh, you weren't an incest victim? Oh, you weren't burned with cigarettes? So, how abused were you really?'" Listen to the entirety of Patty Satalia's radio interview of Andrew Vachss, as broadcast on NPR affiliate WPSU on October 24, 2004, by typing or cut-pasting the following directly into your browser: www.wpsu.org/radio/Audio/takenote/TN544.ram. [RealAudio]
The World As They See It: Andrew Vachss
Case Western Reserve University—one of America's premier academic institutions—picked eight of their most distinguished alumni to discuss "The World As They See It," saying: They are doing work that affects our lives, even though we may not be aware of it. Some have literally changed the world. Others are in the process of doing so. Some are pioneers, while others are part of pioneering projects. Andrew Vachss is one of those alumni, and you can read his answers, published in the Fall 2004 issue of Case Magazine here. Note, although termed an "interview," the technique utilized is to strip the questions, leaving only the responses
Andrew Vachss, an Interview with Night Watchman
"In order for me to be in control of my own destiny, in order for me to have full responsibility for good or for bad for what happened, I needed to be in business for myself. And the only business to be in for myself was what I cared about which was—well, when you strip away all the rhetoric, fighting." Read Night Watchman's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, as published in the June 2004 issue of Tastes Like Chicken.
Andrew Vachss, creative factory
Man alive! You crank out creative product like you're hepped up on speed. What's your writing schedule or routine look like, and how do you thwart writer's block?
Reading: Down Here
"If you wanted to see my best writing, you'd have to look at briefs or appeals. Because there you're playing for high stakes. You can't let yourself get into sloppy habits. You can't be extraneous." Read Judith Moore's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, as published in the San Diego Reader on April 15, 2004.
Serious Issues Permeate Crime Thriller
"[Vachss has designed] a comprehensive survey for law enforcement to use that would lead to pattern rapists being 'identified earlier and convicted more easily,' he said." Read the entirety of Dan Pearson's interview with Andrew Vachss—and review of Down Here—as published May 23, 2004, by the Daily Southtown.
A Novel View: All Evil's Alike
"I promise you, there are people in America whose only problem with the Taliban is that they did it for the wrong god. Whether it's incest, rape, terrorism or Nazism, it's all the same thing—accumulating and abusing power." Read Andrew Vachss' interview with Ian Spiegelman, as published in the New York Post on April 11, 2004.
If We Will Not Protect Children, We Can Not Protect Our Human Race!
If you want to know about education in Germany, the place to go is Chances. The German magazine has articles about universities, courses of study, course contents, degrees, PhDs and cooperative programs between international universities. Recently, they also had an interview with Andrew Vachss. [Note: the interview was originally published in English. For those who want to read it in German, click here.]
Andrew Vachss: The Virtual Bookstore Appearance
Andrew Vachss never reads from his work. Or, rather, he almost never reads from his work. He's done it maybe four times. We recorded one of these rare events [March 10, 2003 at Barnes & Noble in NYC] and present that reading—and the Q&A afterward.
Andrew Vachss Doesn't Fight Fair: A Conversation with Clayton Moore
A Zero exclusive! People always want to know what's "left out" of a print interview—now we're going to show you. In Spring 2003, RainTaxi ran an interview with Andrew Vachss. Journalist Clayton Moore sent us the entire, unedited transcript of the interview that provided the foundation for that piece, and we present it here, in its entirety.
The Daily Southtown
"For his whole life he wanted to get away from where he was and be bonded with others. There is nothing stupid about Eddie. He is an inexperienced person who is certainly capable of all those human emotions that make up a good person." Andrew Vachss speaks about The Getaway Man. Read Dan Pearson's entire piece, as published in The Daily Southtown, March 30, 2003.
Publisher's Weekly
"Eddie doesn't want to steal anything. His vision of the end of the road is not living in Vegas with cashmere suits and rooms full of hookers—he wants to be the driver, so he can actually go someplace." Read Adam Dunn's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published in Publishers Weekly on March 17, 2003.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"I don't love kids. I hate their predators. It's a burning hatred I feel to this day." Read Michael Heaton's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer on March 6, 2003.
Fairfield Weekly
"I don't have much respect for lawyers who use the profession as a way of expressing themselves. My job is protecting children. It's not about my ego, how I express myself, but how well I express what that child needs." Read Robert Masterson's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published by the Fairfield Weekly on February 26, 2003.
Beating the Devil
An interview with Andrew Vachss by Zak Mucha, originally published in Gallery magazine, April, 2000.
UGO.com
"The Internet is a piece of technology. It's absolutely neutral. It's like a scalpel, a surgeon can use it for surgery and a serial killer can use it to take someone's life. The idea that we should be attributing child abuse to the Internet is bizarre. The Polaroid camera was probably a bigger boost in kiddy porn than the Internet ever was." Read Daniel Robert Epstein's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published at UGO.com, February 2003.
Planet Pulp Magazine
"No one's saying I'm revisiting anything. They're saying how can you make this stuff up? And each and every time, a year later—two years later, they say, 'Oh my God, this was happening.'" Read the rest of Jon F. Merz's interview with Andrew Vachss from Planet Pulp Magazine, January 2003, right here.
Borderline
"When someone asks me, 'Why do you write comics?' I tell them, for the same reason I write editorials, essays, and articles; the same reason I give speeches; the same reason I appear on TV programs, and give interviews. Same message; different forum. There is no universal forum, so the more outreach we can do, the better the chance of forming coalitions." Read the entire interview with Andrew Vachss, as published by Borderline, January 2003.
San Diego Reader
"I met a person—I don't know if you want to say he's crazy or just psychopathic—but he told me this whole story about these crime–scene tapes that you get in the 7–Eleven. From the security cameras. [He talked about] how if you could only 'direct that scene.'" Read Judith Moore's interview with Andrew Vachss, published in the San Diego Weekly Reader, October 24, 2002.
The Daily Southtown
"I am trying to get you to swallow a meal, and all I care about is the spice that I am putting in there. But if the rest of the meal is not good, you are not going to finish it." Read Dan Pearson's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published October 24, 2001 in The Daily Southtown.
Razorcake.com
"I don't believe this country will ever come to grips with child abuse until they make the obvious, simple connection between today's victim and tomorrow's predator. As long as they believe a Ted Bundy or a John Wayne Gacy is a biogenetic mistake as opposed to a beast that was built and a monster that was made, they'll continue to blithely walk around, saying, 'I'm against child abuse.'" Read Todd Taylor's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, as originally published October 23, 2001, on Razorcake.com.
Radio Times
"An undercover sting operation has exposed an international child pornography web site and sales operation. The owners of the website have been convicted and now subscribers are being arrested. On August 17, 2001, WHYY's Radio Times spoke with Andrew Vachss—amongst other guests—about the proliferation of child pornography on the internet. Listen to this show via Real Audio.
A Conversation with... Andrew Vachss
"I don’t know if my writing has changed. Crime never does. That is, same crimes, different methods. The Internet has opened new vistas for predators, but it didn’t create them. The breakup of the Soviet empire has spawned new opportunities for large-scale arms dealing, but it didn’t turn otherwise good citizens into gun runners. People come to Times Square now to take pictures, not to buy them—but you can still buy those same pictures elsewhere. Every new contraband creates a new criminal opportunity."
The Bone Palace
"I want [readers] to be angry. If they are not angry then the book has failed. It's not more complicated than that." Alexander Laurence interviews Andrew Vachss, originally posted at The Bone Palace, Spring 2001.
Poets of the Tabloid Murder
In November 2000, Andrew Vachss was interviewed by Steven Nester for the radio program, "Poets of the Tabloid Murder." Originally aired on WHUS 91.7 FM, the conversation keyed off Dead and Gone, the 12th Burke novel.
Eye on Books
One of Andrew Vachss' favorite broadcast journalists is Bill Thompson, who's been interviewing Mr. Vachss for just about every book since Flood. Listen to the interview conducted October, 2000—during the release of Dead and Gone—for Mr. Thompson's Eye on Books radio program.
Il Manifesto Interview (Italian Newspaper)
While in Italy late last year (December 2000), Andrew Vachss spoke with Antonello Catacchio of Il Manifesto, the local daily newspaper. If you can read Italian, you can enjoy an edited version of the result.
Journal For Living
"Plenty of states, like Florida, still don't have [law guardians]. What does that tell you? Because with non-attorney guardians there's no attorney-client privilege. There's no ability to cross–examine witnesses, to subpoena evidence, to appeal. Basically you serve completely at the pleasure of the judge. And if you don't please the judge, you're history. What more of a message do kids need?" Read Tom McPheeters and Ellen Becker's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published by the Journal For Living, Number 21, 2000.
FatFreeRadio.net
"Our reasons for critiquing the [child protection] system [are] pointless. To analyze the system and point out what's wrong with it, without the power to alter it, is masturbatory. The whole concept behind analysis is the concept behind consciousness–raising. Which is, if I show you that something is terrible, you will do something about it. That's not reality. Reality is, it's about power. It's not about education, and knowledge is not power." Read the entirety of Trey Bundy's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published on FatFreeRadio.net on December 4, 2000.
IGN.com Part 1 and Part 2
"The child most at risk [to be accessed by a predatory pedophile] is the child not bonded deeply to anything or anybody. Children who are most deeply bonded with parents, parents who are protective, it's almost like, I don't know if you've seen predatory animals that put a kind of smell on their young to protect them? Okay? I think your 'luck' was much more likely due to your parent[s] than it was to any blind confluence of the planets." Andrew Vachss talks with Spence Abbott in a two–part interview, published on IGN.com in November 2000.
The Early Show
"[My books] may be gritty and hard–core, but [they're] about gritty and hard–core things. I'm certainly not amping it up. In fact, if I had a wish, it would be that what I write about was fiction." Read the transcript of Bryant Gumbel's interview of Andrew Vachss, as broadcast on The Early Show on October 20, 2000.
Punchline
"It's an extremely profitable thing to be 'concerned' about drugs. You don't just have treatment programs, you have law enforcement programs, you have entire industries that could not function but for drugs. Including the prison industry. I think America has gone psychotic ... there are human beings—even as we speak—dying, in the kind of shrieking, tormenting pain you couldn't inflict on a P.O.W., because America doesn't want them to be drug addicts." Read the entirety of Pete Humes' interview with Andrew Vachss, published by Punchline in October 2000.
San Diego Reader
"I was telling [my friend, Doc Pomus] about a letter I got, a diatribe from a fan saying, 'I used to love your books, but now you've created this impossible, ridiculous character, Belle. There's no such woman like that.' I said, 'What do you think, Doc?' And he said, 'What are you getting mad about? I feel sorry for him. He's never known a real woman, and you're going to get mad at him?'" Read Judith Moore's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published in the San Diego Reader on September 28, 2000.
New Times LA
"There's no biogenetic code for evil. We make our own monsters." Read Stephen Lemons' interview with Andrew Vachss, as published in New Times Los Angeles on September 28, 2000.
Mumblage.com
Thirty years ago in a bloody corner of Africa, America's hardest hardboiled writer saw things that would make Philip Marlowe curl up and cry. Read Zach Dundas' interview, "Andrew Vachss: Hot Biafra Nights," originally published at Mumblage.com.
The Bird
"Everything that's in [my] books comes out of what I've seen, or touched, or felt, or smelt, and if I had one wish it would be that the books were fiction." Andrew Vachss, in this interview with Dave Thompson.
The Sunday Herald
"Fighting Evil Face to Face: A Dark Journey" an interview with Iain Bruce, originally published in The Sunday Herald, February 2000.
The Wag
Andrew Vachss talks about the difference between John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy in an interview with The Wag published January 2000.
Nth Degree
All We Need of Hell: The Stern Truth According to Andrew Vachss, an interview from Nth Degree by Julie Christopher, originally published October 1999.
Pamela's Film and Entertainment Site talks to Andrew Vachss about the recent options by New Line Cinema.
IT (Italian Horror Magazine)
Intervista con un guerriero: Andrew Vachss (April/May 1999)
SALON
Learning from Littleton, originally posted at SALON.com on April 27, 1999.
HITS
The leading trade publication for the pop-radio industry, HITS magazine, talks to Andrew Vachss about the Safe House soundtrack in "Burke's Lore."
Wired News
"[N]ow we're bleating about taking [kiddie porn] off the Internet. We haven't ever taken it off anyplace." Andrew Vachss talks with WIRED about the Supreme Court's latest hollow promise: eliminating child pornography from the internet.
The Contra Costa Times
"I've never said that what I do is because I have a particular love of children. What I have is a particular hatred for predators." —Andrew Vachss
Amazon.com
Vachss Populi, Andrew Vachss is not a man interested in the world of fantasy. Amazon.com interviews Andrew Vachss, May/June1998.
USA TODAY
10% Solution: Writing Crime Novels
Bob Minzesheimer interviews Andrew Vachss, originally published in USA TODAY, April 30, 1998.
Monterey County Weekly
"With the Burke series, Vachss chronicles a world as harsh as any imagined by Jim Thompson and a character more intelligently brutal than those created by Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald . . . put together. If Vachss leaves no other legacy behind him, he has secured his niche in the pantheon of noir novelists. But if that happens, you can bet he%ll be very damned pissed–off." Click here to read Chuck Thurman's interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published April 16, 1998, by Monterey County Weekly.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Author Picks a Fight With Child Abusers," an interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 8, 1998.
A Matter of Crime
Andrew Vachss: An Interview, originally published in A Matter of Crime, Vol. 4.
Barnes & Noble
Matt Schwartz interviews Andrew Vachss for the Barnes & Noble website, June, 1997.
blur
A Conversation with Andrew Vachss, by Julie Logan, blur, Volume IV-Number XIII, March 1997.
The Onion
John Krewson, Assistant Editor, The Onion, interviews Andrew Vachss.
Children's Voice
Voices for Children: Andrew Vachss, originally published in Children's Voice, Volume 6 #2, 1997, a publication of the Child Welfare League of America.
Multimedia World Norway
Digital's Alta Vista—Pedophiles Paradise
Digital Replies—Useful Information
Digital Has Responsibility
Interview with Andrew Vachss and articles by Tom Helge Berglie, originally published in Multimedia World Norway, March 13, 1996.
The Buffalo News
"Word is Out on the Children of the Secret," an interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published in The Buffalo News, November 13, 1995.
Dallas Morning News
"Author–Lawyer Andrew Vachss Puts Science Before Fiction," an interview with Andrew Vachss and Dr. Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., originally published in the Dallas Morning News, October 8, 1995.
Über das Böse(full-length interview, pub. by Eichborn, 1994, German-language).
Stuff
An interview with Andrew Vachss, by Robert Birnbaum, originally published in Stuff magazine, July 1993.
The Scream Factory
TSF BiblioFile featuring Andrew Vachss, by Thomas Deja, originally published in The Scream Factory, Issue #11, Spring 1993.
Sober Times
Avenger of the Abused Child, by Kelly Luker, originally published in Sober Times, September 1992.
Comic Shop News
CSN Spotlight: Andrew Vachss, by Charles Rutledge, originally published in Comic Shop News #231, November 27, 1991.
Gallery
Writing the Wrongs: Hard–boiled Mystery Author Andrew Vachss Gets Tough.
Interview by Paul La Rosa, originally published in Gallery, September 1991.
Time Out
"There is an intriguing similarity between the language used by Andrew Vachss, child–abuse specialist from New York, and the unnamed head of Scotland Yard's Child Pornography Unit ... . While Vachss, certainly no believer in Original Sin, talks openly of 'evil', the man who heads the six strong often undercover unit said recently: 'When I first began to be head of this branch I thought they were sick. They're not—they're evil.'" Originally published in Time Out (London), March 1990.
Current Issues
Perspective: Attacking the Problem, by Richard Layman. Originally published in Current Issues, Volume 1: Child Abuse, 1990.
The Face
"My position on pornography is quite simple. You can argue about Penthouse or Playboy or things of that ilk. But child pornography, a picture of a child engaged in a sexual act, is a photograph of a crime and you cannot argue about that. It is, per se, illegal, illicit and immoral. It is unfortunate that my work is taken up by people with whom I am not allied." Read John Williams' entire 1988 interview with Andrew Vachss, published in the January '89 issue of The Face, about the time that Blue Belle was released.
Los Angeles Times
"What drives me is real simple, one word: anger. I'm absolutely, morally convinced in my mind and my heart that child abuse is a greater cancer in this country than cocaine or communism." Read Garry Abrams' entire 1988 interview with Andrew Vachss, published in the 12/11/88 issue of the Los Angeles Times.
Crime Times
"I think that what drives the American public, which is like a huge, lumbering beast, is anger; and the other thing that drives it is self–interest. What I'm trying to do in my books is different from other people writing about child abuse. I'm not trying to engender sympathy so much as to say to the public, 'Today's victim is tomorrow's predator.' The things that you fear have a genesis, and the price of being safe in this world is early intervention. It costs you something to look away, not just in moral terms, but in practical terms." Originally published in Crime Times, Nov./Dec. 1988.
