SALT LAKE CITY — A lot of what made Gabriel Tallent a successful writer comes down to his favorite activity — climbing.
Tallent, who was born in Sante Fe, New Mexico, grew up in California and now lives in Salt Lake City, said there’s a certain reward you get from climbing, something that’s not unlike the rush you feel from writing.
He said that climbing “has become the careful assessment of risk and creative problem solving, and sometimes a very serious reckoning with your doubt.”
Tallent’s own risk to work part-time and write full-time has proven to be well worth it.
On Aug. 29, the talented Tallent released his debut novel, “My Absolute Darling” ($27 Riverhead Press). The novel, deemed a masterpiece by the legendary Stephen King, tells the story of Turtle, a young girl who can’t escape the clutches of an abusive father — that is, until she meets a young boy named Jacob with an eye to rescue her. Soon she finds herself battling her inner self, debating whether or not she can truly leave the only family she’s ever known.
“I have always been interested in books that are about finding your way when the way is completely unclear, like how we grapple with who we want to become,” he said in a phone interview.
He said the book appeals to those who constantly face struggles with identity and those “who are interested in that fight to be a good person when the stakes are murderously against you.”
Tallent admitted, though, that book has a few taboo-like scenes and graphic depictions of abuse. Indeed, Turtle’s father is sexually and physically abusive, manipulating his daughter into terrible scenarios that break her self-esteem.
Tallent said readers may not always like those sort of stories, but while they are difficult to read, they are also painfully real to those who live them. He feels it's important not to shy away from them.
“We need to try and see those people clearly. And I think that when we do, we’ll see their stories have dignity just like any other story. And if we try and bear in mind that dignity … the stories will seem less off-putting and more essentially human.”
Tallent first started writing a book in college. He messed around with a few different ideas, trying to find one that would stick.
Somewhere between 2011 and 2012 — “I’m really bad at timelines,” Tallent said — the Sante Fe native started writing the first draft of what would eventually become “My Absolute Darling.”
Best-selling writer Stephen King called Utah resident Gabriel Tallent's new book "My Absolute Darling," a "masterpiece." | Penguin Random House
At the time, Tallent was a student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
It was there that he met his future wife Harriet, a native Utahn. When she decided to move back to the Beehive State to attend the University of Utah, Tallent followed.
While in Utah, he became determined to write full-time. He got a job at the Salt Lake restaurant The Copper Onion where he worked 20 to 30 hours a week while moonlighting as a novel writer, spending 30 to 40 hours a week on early versions of “Darling.”
Twelve drafts later — all of which started with a blank page — he found the book that hit bookshelves this week.
“I was always recklessly ambitious about holding each line to the highest standard I could,” he said. “I don’t think I ever became complacent with it. I wanted the book to have a sustained and exacting attention. And I wanted to take very seriously the complexity of my characters.”
He added, “I bet everything on it.”
Writing, he said, is never easy. But he said it’s easier when writers commit fully to their dream, giving it their all.
Utah can be a tough state in which to be a writer, he said.
“A lot of writers who are out here are out here for the outdoors, for the culture, they’re here for something. You're far from the hub of it. You’re far away from New York.”
That’s why he hopes Utah writers stick to their passions.
“If you’re going to be out here writing, just make sure to do whatever else you’re doing very well and very passionately,” he said. “If you’re here for your big Mormon family, do that. Throw yourself into that. If you’re here for the outdoors, get every drop of that you can.”
Indeed, Tallent spends his free time hiking in Little Cottonwood Canyon and southern Utah, specifically in Moab.
“I like everything about it. I like the climbing culture. I like hanging around my friends in southern Utah by the fire,” he said. “It takes you out into the backcountry and it’s so incredibly immersive.”
Like writing, climbing and hiking requires your full attention, he said.
“There’s no substitute for the labor of writing. Don’t listen to other people, and just write your heart out.”
It’s only fitting, then, that his next book will be about hikers in Utah.
“It’s about dirtbag climbers living in Salt Lake City,” he said.
If you go …
What: Gabriel Tallent book signing
When: Saturday, Sept. 9, 6 p.m.
Where: The King's English, 1511 S. 1500 East
Web: kingsenglish.com
Note: The signing line is for those who buy a copy of the featured book from The King’s English.