"Holy Cow" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 224 pp., $24) is a
fable for adults, full of puns and silly jokes. A turkey is jive. A pig
peppers his speech with Yiddish like a grandpa in the Catskills. In
fact, the story is set in upstate New York, where the three animal
heroes, led by Elsie Bovary, decide to escape their farm to fly to
countries where they'll be safe from being eaten.
Duchovny, who reads and signs "Holy Cow" at Barnes & Noble at the Grove on Feb. 18, spoke to us by phone from New York.
Parts of this interview:
You interviewed Craig Ferguson onstage about his novel in 2006. Was writing a novel yourself on your mind back then?
It's been on my mind forever. If you'd asked me when I was 20, "What are you?" I would say, "I'm a writer," even though I had nothing to show for it. It's always been my self-identification. My father was a writer; he published his first novel when he was 73, so I guess I've beaten him by a little bit.
You've written a loopy fairy tale. I wonder what inspired you to make that choice.
I
wish I could tell you that I make choices in life, but I kind of fly by
the seat of my pants. I had this idea a long time ago as an animated
feature. That's the business I find myself in, Hollywood, and I pitched
it to a couple of places — they didn't bite. And I didn't think they
would, because there's some religion in it, some politics, there's some
discussion about whether or not keeping animals to eat them is a good
thing or bad thing.
Are you also releasing a record this year?
I am, soon.
Are you going for the EGOT? You know: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony?
Maybe
I'm just going for an EGO, I don't know…. As I said to you, I have
always defied myself as a writer, even before I would say actor. In
fact, whenever I see my name and it says "actor" after it, I always
think: "That's not true, I'm a writer." And I never played music and
never wrote music until four years ago. It's one of the most amazing,
serendipitous turns of events in my life.
I have to ask: Are they really bringing back "X-Files" and "Twin Peaks"? Can it possibly be true?
Seems like it. I would bet on it if I were you. I think "Twin Peaks" is
happening for sure. I hope my character comes back, I think she does.
And then "X-Files" — Fox made some kind of shadowy announcement last
week. Certainly, something's happening. Something's brewing. It's like
the Eagles' greatest hits tour … by me.
