Oana Aristide’s Astronaut! is the kind of novel that knows exactly what it’s doing without making a show of it. It moves in a calm, almost matter-of-fact way, while the world inside it keeps slipping sideways into something funnier, sadder, and more menacing than it first seemed.

During my conversation with David Guterson, we explored his commitment to restraint, his trust in the reader’s intelligence, and his belief that what remains unseen—or out of reach—can be as truthful as what is named. His approach is patient and generous, attentive to the way significance emerges when it is not compelled.