Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of sexual assault.
With the same learned tone she takes to describe her written coverage of political wrongdoing and disease, journalist, NYU professor and author Amanda Eisenberg tells me she is a “pantser,” flying by the seats of her pants. As opposed to meticulously archiving details of her manuscripts through written documents — a “plotter,” by comparison — she prefers to compose stories scene-by-scene as they materialize. Alongside teaching Journalistic Inquiry: The Written Word as an adjunct professor at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, she recently completed her debut novel, “People Are Talking,” which was released on April 22.
Despite her more impulsive writing process, publishing a novel has always factored into Eisenberg’s plan. Eisenberg first tried her hand at writing stories in third grade. She has also consistently journaled since elementary school and keeps an archive of her old notebooks. Turning to journalism itself as a career path was a matter of practicality — but after crafting her first book, she is already considering ideas for a second.
“My first love was fiction,” Eisenberg said. “I joke that I was a very practical 11-year-old, where I was like, ‘Well, being an author is not a full time job. Like, that’s not a career. But I was like, working on the newspaper is a job, isn’t it?”
A New Jersey native, Eisenberg attended the University of Maryland before moving to New York City for a fellowship at POLITICO covering health care and eventually policy. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she composed Politico New York Health Care, a weekly newsletter for medical professionals that covered events as they unfolded. Alongside teaching, she leads editorial work on “The 80 Million,” a Medicare-focused newsletter for the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
“I was covering the pandemic during lockdown from my apartment in Manhattan … I was talking to people who are watching people die every day,” Eisenberg said.
Her insight into the pandemic and facing her own illness compelled Eisenberg to pick up her passion for writing fiction again. A recipient of economic impact payments due to the pandemic, she cashed her stimulus check and used it to pay for a spot in a 12-week online writing course run by one of her favorite authors, Jennifer Close.
Eisenberg found herself missing memories of a lively, bustling New York City. Her written work from that program featured scenes of what she missed most about the city, like subway rides and public conversations.
The idea behind “People are Talking” came to her later in November 2021 in the form of an argument the characters were having in her head. Eisenberg started to write it down.
“Usually, when this happens, I’ll take out a phone or my laptop to write down what they’re saying, and then they usually get quiet,” Eisenberg said. “For some reason, they kept talking.”
“People Are Talking” uses two timelines to document the past and present stories of leftist politician Dani and writer Mallory, who headed a secret society in college that was founded to monitor alleged rapists in their years after university. Eight years postgrad, Dani and Mal are no longer best friends but reunite at a classmate’s wedding, where they reflect on their involvement in the society and falling out. When the society infiltrates the celebration, they soon discover that their personal lives and political leanings have grown irreversibly entwined.
Eisenberg emphasizes that one of the biggest threats to women’s health is sexual violence, and it’s no secret that it seeps into political scandals. From covering New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s sexual assault allegations in 2021 to examining claims of gender-biased policing by the Special Victims Division, her coverage of misconduct cases helped inform the plot.
In “People Are Talking,” Eisenberg wanted to craft characters with “‘tough, feminist, strong opinions” on the page to paint a story of social politics in shades of gray.
“It’s inherently interesting when you have two people who both identify as feminists,” Eisenberg said. “My impression would be that most people would connect with Mal because of her politics, but I also want people to see through Dani.”
The dissection of shifting gender and sex politics through art and media is nothing new, but the way in which creators choose to engage with the topics may be experiencing a shift. Ashlyn Petro, an editor at Three Rooms Press, was drawn to Eisenberg’s novel because it was not didactic — “People are Talking” is meant to get people to talk, opening the door for conversation rather than luring readers toward a singular conclusion.
“This book is never trying to tell you what to think. It represents varying approaches to the larger concept, and of what is happening with consciousness and rape culture,” Petro said. “It was very much what I felt a journalist would do: ‘I’m taking you through it, follow me.’”
Contact Eleanor Jacobs at [email protected].
