the style of the prose in NORMA is largely inspired by vladimir nabokov and eve babitz, both easy masters of first person. for dialogue, i'm using joan didion as my inspiration, drawing from her sparing use of dialogue tags and uncomplicated, straightforward language.
norma's whole thing is being a big reader, and i made the decision early on to specifically reference the books she reads/has read in text. i find it a little trite to name-drop, but since a novel is connected to all other novels by force of history, i feel a liberty, and in this case almost a compulsion, to draw norma's influences to the fore. all of these books have also influenced the story/structure/style in some way. i have listed them in the order that they're mentioned in the novel.
the following texts are influences, micro-genre companions, and recommended reading/watching for fans of NORMA. playlist pending!
books:
movies: