作家艾米莉·圣约翰·曼德尔（Emily St. John Mandel）接受专访，畅谈其最新小说《Exit Party》。曾因精准预言疫情大流行般的末日场景而以《第十一号站》闻名的她，在新书中描绘了分裂混乱与极权监控两种平行未来的美国。她强调这部作品始于2022年她对政治极化与社会撕裂的焦虑，尽管情节沉重且宛如当前现实的写照，但全书的核心仍充满希望，探讨人们在体制崩解之际如何保持善良与韧性。

访谈中曼德尔深入探讨了小说中的身分认同、反生活（counter life）以及平行世界设定，角色在不同制度环境下走向了截然不同的命运轨迹。她也表达了对生成式人工智慧在写作与出版界蔓延的强烈反感与担忧，指出AI缺乏可信度且严重侵蚀人际信任，更导致现今作家面临难以证明自己未依赖AI创作的巨大声誉危机与职涯威胁。

此外，曼德尔回顾了自己非典型的早年经历与文学发迹之路，从舞蹈学校负债辍学、在寒冷的蒙特娄深夜写作，到长期在实验室担任行政助理直到作品大获成功后才辞职。面对现今演算法主导、高度分化的宣传环境，她深感新人小说家突破重围的艰辛，但仍乐观寄望《Exit Party》中所描绘的混乱与极权终将瓦解，为更稳定、美好的社会迎来转机。

Author Emily St. John Mandel discusses her latest novel, Exit Party, in an in-depth interview. Having previously been hailed as a pandemic prophet following the acclaim of Station Eleven, her new book explores two diverging near-future versions of the United States: one marked by chaotic civil fracture and the other by a totalitarian surveillance state. She explains that the narrative originated in 2022 from her anxieties over escalating political polarization, noting that despite eerie parallels to contemporary reality, the novel remains fundamentally hopeful by examining human decency and resilience amidst collapse.

During the conversation, Mandel delves into the exploration of identity and the concept of the 'counter life,' illustrating how differing sociopolitical environments shape individuals into vastly different figures, such as a criminal versus a police detective. She also voices strong skepticism and unease regarding generative AI in literature and publishing, arguing that AI is fundamentally untrustworthy, damages societal trust, and places immense reputational pressure on writers who now face the daunting challenge of having to prove they did not rely on automated tools.

Reflecting on her unconventional background, Mandel details her journey from dropping out of dance school with student debt to writing late into the night in frigid Montreal apartments, while working as a laboratory administrator until well after Station Eleven's breakout success. Looking at the chaotic and fragmented modern media landscape, she recognizes the unprecedented difficulties emerging writers face in gaining visibility, yet expresses hope that the fictional collapses in Exit Party foreshadow the end of authoritarianism and chaos in favor of a more stable future.