"Readers Have to Demand the Works That Are Controversial"

Bestselling author Leif Enger on subversion, writing, and hope

By Molly Cox | April 12, 2025

In the near-future world of Leif Enger’s I Cheerfully Refuse, a few ultra-wealthy autocrats control the world, while the majority of people are indentured servants with little autonomy, living in extreme debt and poverty. The power grid is unreliable, the police are totally under the control of the country’s corrupt rulers, and justice is handed down by religious zealots rather than impartial courts.

Reading is discouraged; it seems books have ceased to be published or printed at all, and America has its first proudly illiterate president.

Climate change has warmed Lake Superior to the point where centuries-old bodies have started to rise to the surface, and pollution has rendered any living lake fish deformed and inedible. (Great Lakes trivia enthusiasts know there are an estimated 10,000 bodies at the bottom of Superior, which “never gives up its dead” because the cold temperatures keep them from decaying normally.)

Enger, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Peace Like a River, lives in Duluth, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior, but he’ll be visiting Traverse City and the National Writers series on April 22. Ahead of his visit, we chatted with Enger about the inspiration for I Cheerfully Refuse, his writing process, and the challenges writers and other artists currently face.

Thirty Minutes in the Future

Enger first got the idea for I Cheerfully Refuse in 2017, but didn’t start turning his hundreds of pages of notes into a book until the first day of the first COVID lockdown in 2020. “My wife said, ‘now you don’t have anything to do, or anyplace to go—start your book!’” Enger recalls.

In that bleak future world—which offers plenty of parallels to our own—protagonist Rainy and his wife Lark have a seemingly idyllic life in a small town in northern Minnesota. Lark runs a bookstore stocked from estate sales and trades with other book lovers, while Rainy is a house painter who plays bass in a band. In the couple’s close-knit and remote community, it seems like the dangers and sorrows of the darkening outside world can’t find them—but of course, they do.

When a fugitive from a medical testing facility brings the wrath of the corrupt state down on Rainy and Lark’s peaceful existence, Rainy is forced to flee into the unknown on his sailboat. But is any place safe in this new world?

We asked Enger if he would have written the story any differently if he was writing it today, in 2025.

“When I first wrote the book, I thought ‘this is maybe 30 years in the future,’ and of course by the time the thing came out, it [felt like] it could be 30 minutes in the future,” Enger says.

Amid the conflict and despair portrayed in the novel are beautiful descriptions of days spent sailing on the lake, of nature enduring and thriving, and of neighborhood parties full of good friends, homegrown food, and music. Enger infuses some of his personal passions like sailing, kite flying, and playing the bass into the book. Classical works like The Odyssey and Don Quixote were also inspirations for the novel, as well as biblical characters like David and King Saul.

Writing for the Moment

While the book handles heavy topics, Enger promises readers hope. “I want to write the book I’d want to read. I don’t want to write a book that’s bleak as hell, because reading should be an experience that includes delight,” he says.

On the topic of writing, Enger highly recommends that writers looking to improve their craft write “morning pages,” a practice created by Julia Cameron and shared in her book The Artist’s Way. Enger writes three to eight pages each morning in his notebook using a fountain pen. He also recommends not worrying about the use of punctuation in the morning pages to keep the language and ideas flowing freely.

Enger also encourages writers to keep writing, especially in a climate of book bans, AI theft, and challenges to free speech.

“Every kind of artist is a little bit under siege, so this is the time when it’s important for us to keep doing our work…maybe when you’ve got something to push against, that’s when you can do your best work…and that’s a source of hope, too,” he says.

For writers especially, he adds, “It’s important to simply not be cowed by what’s happening and to respond in real time… That means writing whatever it is you want to write, and doing it the very best you’re capable of.”

While writers must ensure that bold literature continues to be written, it will ultimately be up to readers to save libraries and independent bookstores—topics near and dear to both protagonist Rainy and Enger himself.

“Readers have to demand the works that are controversial. I think going into a bookstore or library and saying ‘show me the banned books,’ and then reading them, loving them, and approving of them is the best and most subversive thing we can do right now,” Enger concludes.

About the Event

An Evening with Leif Enger takes place on Tuesday, April 22, at 7pm at the City Opera House in Traverse City and via livestream. Tickets range from $32.50-$42.50 (plus fees) and come with a copy of I Cheerfully Refuse. In-person tickets can be purchased through the City Opera House, and livestream tickets can be found through the links on the National Writers Series website. For more information, visit nationalwritersseries.org.