Featured Official Interview: Selby Wost

[kandscreeley]

Today's Chat with Sarah features Selby Wost, author of Hits to the Dome.

Official Review 1

Official Review 2

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1. What do you do when you aren't writing?

I usually find myself curled up in the fetal position, sobbing uncontrollably.

2. What's your typical writing process like?

I like to start the day by berating myself in the mirror for choosing not to write stuff like paranormal romance or junk about a sexual awakening of some sort. Then I take a bunch of Ketamine and consult with my neighbor's dog as to what my characters should do next.

3. Let's discuss your book, Hits to the Dome. Why did you decide to center the story around 14-year-old boys?

The eighth grade is when I really noticed all the heavy bias and lies being spouted by the school system and when I dismissed their curriculum as a bunch of crap.

4. Did the youth of the main characters make them difficult to write? Why or why not?

It wasn't difficult at all. I was pretty much blacked out between 1997 and 2019, so middle school seemed like a pretty recent memory when I wrote this.

5. Which of the characters is most like you? Which shares the fewest qualities with you?

I'd say I was mostly like Spasmoid McGee in that I was always in some hidden corner of the classroom, tweaking out and eating my pencil, causing concern amongst both my peers and teachers.

6. The book takes place in a Marxist society. How did you approach the world-building?

Well, it doesn't actually take place in a Marxist society. It takes place in a very liberal town where literary theory is the foundation of their public education system in general, and Marxist literary theory is the cornerstone of that foundation specifically. All I needed to do was remember all the BS they tried to jam down my throat in middle and high school and all the Marxist Ideology that they tried to indoctrinate me with as an English major in college.

7. Was there a central message that you wanted to convey with this story?

While this story is primarily a comedy about four idiot friends having a series of misadventures in their very liberal town, the central message is how warped the curriculum in public school has become, being particularly critical of how literary theory takes precedence over all other academic disciplines. In particular, I wanted to bring attention to how divisive and dangerous Marxist literary theory is, with Critical theorists like Judith Butler, Nancy Fraser, and Kimberle Crenshaw dictating virtually everything being taught in school today. No matter what Marxist literary theorists say, their core tenant is to divide people into groups that satisfy their "oppressor vs. oppressed" dichotomy. By vilifying others in order to deify themselves, Marxist theorists find purpose in life by fighting the "oppressors" and placating their massive egos by elevating themselves above the mean stuff of the earth.

This falsely constructed duality of oppressor vs. oppressed is a vast oversimplification that creates two extremist camps that are antagonistic towards each other and brings the worst out in everyone. The Marxist is okay with this conflict because the more anger and even violence that they can draw out of their "enemy," the better; they see any human suffering that occurs during their "heroic fight" as legitimizing their cause.

Marxist literary theory is supplemented by reader response theory, which allows readers to deliberately take information out of context and rearrange it in a way to satisfy their predetermined Marxist tunnel vision. This is a phenomenon and a fatal and fundamental flaw of today's current literary theories called the Deterministic Fallacy. Every bit of information a reader processes is warped by confirmation bias, and objectivity is completely lost.

Northrop Frye pointed out these pitfalls of Marxist and reader response theory back in the 1950s and was very critical of them. These common-sense objections were roundly ignored and now Marxist literary theory is used as a lens to interpret history and science according to predetermined Marxist beliefs. This provides a view of history that is extremely biased, subjective, and counterfactual. The completely debunked Draper-White conflict theory is still taught in schools today, in spirit if not in name. Attitudes towards the middle ages and the scientific revolution are framed by the false interpretations of Gibbons, Voltaire, and Burckhardt. Karl Marx espoused these false interpretations in his writings, and his writings are what form the backbone of the American education system.

Anyone (like myself) who points out how toxic, artificial, and manipulative these theories are is attacked by its adherents using loaded terminology and escalatory rhetoric that has been programmed into their minds by the school system. Intellectual freedom is lost and intellectual inbreeding begins. The reason I chose to center my story around 14-year-old boys is because the eighth grade is when I woke up and started to notice how completely unhinged the public-school curriculum had become. I am hoping my stories will provide a similar wake-up call to anyone who reads them.

8. What's next for you? Do you have more books in the works?

Yes, I'm currently writing Happy Socks, which is Volume 2 of The Chronicles of a Small Town series.

I like to end with lighter questions.

9. What is your favorite book?

Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky.

10. Do you have any odd writing habits?

I find getting hammered and participating in bum fights underneath the train tracks is a great way to break writer's block.

11. What three things would you take to a deserted island?

A rope, a razor blade, and a shotgun. That ought to do the trick. And by that I mean for constructing shelter, personal hygiene, and hunting, of course...

12. What's your favorite meal?

A handle of Zhenka Vodka, a pile of McDoubles, and a pack of Kamel Reds. I highly recommend indulging in all of those things while reading Hits to the Dome.

[Sara Castaneda 1]

Interesting interview. The concept of how the author's awakening to the education system is awakened reflected through the characters of the book. Not in a parallel universe but one that exists already. Sounds like an interesting read.

[Lintang Ardhiana]

Selby Wost’s interview is an outrageous, darkly funny, and fiercely critical take on education, literature, and the writing life. Blending absurd humor with sharp ideological commentary, Wost mocks both himself and the systems he sees as broken—especially the dominance of Marxist literary theory in schools. Beneath the shock-value jokes and satire lies a serious message about intellectual freedom and the dangers of ideological indoctrination. It’s bold, unfiltered, and anything but boring.