
WATCH: Bill Fitzhugh on Finding Satire in the Serious
From the Video Series Authors in the Tent, Hosted by Ona Russell
Authors in the Tent is a filmed series of interviews with established and emerging authors conducted in a tent Ona Russell purchased during the pandemic. Inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron and the 1001 Arabian Nights, the tent—elemental, ancient, and ubiquitous—serves as a magical backdrop for literary conversation.
In the second episode of the second season, Ona Russell talks with Bill Fitzhugh about his latest novel, A Perfect Harvest, exploring humor in medical diagnosis, playing with narrative conventions, working in the vein of Jonathan Swift and Laurence Sterne, and his screenwriting career in Hollywood.
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This series is in support of the charities Tents-4-Homeless, PATH, Alpha Project, and VVSD.
Ona Russell holds a PhD in literature from UC San Diego where she also taught for many years. She is author of three award-winning historical mysteries and the recently released Son of Nothingness: A Novel of Appearances.
Bill Fitzhugh is the award-winning author of eleven or so comic and satiric crime novels. He has also written for film, television, radio, and theatre. His debut novel, Pest Control, was translated into half a dozen languages, the film rights sold to Warner Brothers, it was produced as a popular radio show in Germany, and as a stage musical in Los Angeles. The New York Times said “Fitzhugh is in a league with Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard…he is a strange and deadly amalgam of screenwriter and comic novelist.” The late, great political humorist, Molly Ivins said, “Fitzhugh is one seriously funny guy.” A one-time FM rock deejay, he wrote, produced, and hosted Fitzhugh’s All Hand Mixed Vinyl for five years on Sirius-XM’s Deep Tracks channel. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Fitzhugh lives in Los Angeles where he is at work on his next project.

The Virtual Book Channel
Launched during the coronavirus pandemic as virtual literary communities began emerging in vital and unexpected ways, The Virtual Book Channel seeks to provide the best possible platforms for writers to reach their readers. The VBC (aka “The Veeb”) is a curated channel that archives live-streamed programming through partnerships with independent bookstores, literary festivals, authors' WFH spaces, and more.