Author Janet Malcolm on why she is so good at portraying nuts

Synopsis

Janet Malcolm discusses her talent for portraying eccentric characters, referring to them as 'nuts.' She highlights figures like Jeffrey Mason, whose antagonist is Peter Swales, a Freud scholar who has a disdain for Jeffrey Masson Sheela. Malcolm also mentions Trevor Thomas, the last person to see Sylvia Plath alive, describing his chaotic living environment as a reflection of life's disorder. She draws parallels between Thomas's cluttered home and literary models, such as Gogol's characters, emphasizing the authenticity found in chaos. Malcolm's vivid descriptions capture the essence of these 'lost soul delusional nutty people' and their complex realities.