Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn On Becoming A Novelist (And Scaring The Heck Out Of People)

Welcome to the scary summer reading edition of Speakers Forum. This week you’ll be encouraged by our guest Gillian Flynn to read her best-selling novel, "Gone Girl," before the movie comes out in October.

You’ll hear her read the duly infamous “cool girl” passage, and learn the gritty details of her unusual writing technique. And as an added bonus, you’ll get Seattle writer Maria Semple’s take on the Flynn phenomenon.

But don't worry: If you haven’t read "Gone Girl" yet, know that Flynn and Semple work hard not to give too much away.

Gillian Flynn writes thriller novels with a dark edge. The Guardian said of her: “She is a virtuoso of the not-quite-right detail, the skin-crawling sense that something is very wrong, that it is under your nose, yet you can't make out what it is.”

"Gone Girl" lays out the fragments of a marriage gone terribly wrong. For some it prompts the question: can you ever truly know those you love?

Flynn says she grew up shy and introverted in a family that encouraged her to read books and watch great movies. Her mother taught reading and her father was a film professor. But "Psycho" at six? Well, you’ll hear how she feels about that. Flynn's first book was "Sharp Objects," followed by "Dark Places."

Flynn spoke at Town Hall Seattle on April 14 as part of Seattle Arts & Lectures Literary/Arts Series. Thanks to Ruth Dickey and Rebecca Hoogs for this recording.