美国国家公共电台 NPR The Wimpy Kid's Best Friend Gets A Diary Of His Own ... And He's 'Awesome'

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We're privileged to speak with a great many famous writers on this program but none whose name is more familiar around the world. If there are any children who are listening and yawning this morning, perk¹ up. You'll want to hear this. Jeff Kinney's "Diary Of A Wimpy² Kid" books have sold 180 million copies around the world, international bestsellers that have been made into four movies, for which he's been executive producer. There are 13 installments³ of Greg Heffley's diary - I'm sorry - journal. But now there's a new middle school Samuel Pepys on the scene, Greg's best friend, Rowley Jefferson. He's the kid at the center of Jeff Kinney's new expansion. It's called "Diary Of" - and Rowley most certainly is - "An Awesome⁴ Friendly Kid." Jeff Kinney joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

JEFF KINNEY: Oh, thanks for having me on.

SIMON: Rowley is a great, young man. And Greg is not always nice to him, is he?

KINNEY: (Laughter) I think he's not. You know, the thing that I've learned from the four movies and the musical that we put together is that the audience is always rooting for Rowley to win. And, you know, as a person who Greg is based upon, I'm always like, why are they rooting for this guy? So I decided⁵ to embrace that. He's a really positive kid. He's really incorruptible in a way.

SIMON: I don't think I knew that. So Greg is based on you?

KINNEY: Yeah. He's sort of based on the worst parts of myself. You know, he's sort of a comically exaggerated version of my worst points as a person. Yeah. He's a three-dimensional character. So he's got his good sides, too.

SIMON: Have you grown up since then, or did you have to remain a jerk just aesthetic⁶ reasons?

KINNEY: (Laughter). Yeah. I hope that that quote gets put on my book somewhere.

SIMON: (Laughter).

KINNEY: You know, I think that Greg is sort of complex. And he's a reflection of sort of human foibles. So I think that's what I am, as well.

SIMON: Was it a - therefore, a relief to spend some time in Rowley's world?

KINNEY: It was. And it was kind of a surprise. It's sort of easy for me to write for Greg. And I wasn't so sure that I could write for this other character who was more naive⁷ and innocent and positive. But I found it to be really refreshing⁸. It's been kind of exciting in a way.

SIMON: I mean, to help us understand Rowley, he wants to create a character with superpowers that he calls Amazing Guy.

KINNEY: Yeah.

SIMON: And which is to give him this backstory - I'm going to quote, "Just had good parents who raised him to be a nice person, and that's why he decided when he grew up he'd fight for people who needed his help."

KINNEY: That's right. And he uses padded gloves, so he doesn't hurt the bad guys too much.

SIMON: Aw. He's a wonderful, young man.

KINNEY: (Laughter).

SIMON: He really is. So what's Greg's problem? Or he's just a kid.

KINNEY: I think he's a kid who's in a rush to grow up. I think he's a kid who wants to get to that next level. He wants his bedtime to be a later. He wants a cellphone. He wants to be able to see the PG-13 movie instead of PG. And he doesn't realize what a good thing childhood is, what a good gig it is. And Rowley is really quite the opposite. He loves being a kid. He's not in a rush to grow up. And, like I said, he's very pure.

SIMON: I have read that, at first, you thought "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" was a comic strip for adults.

KINNEY: Yeah. I was writing for the humor section, not the kids section of the bookstore. My father introduced me to comics. And he introduced me to Carl Barks, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. And I always thought of comics as being for grown-ups or maybe just for everyone. So after eight years of working on "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid," I showed it to an editor who brought it in-house. And my eventual⁹ publisher told me that I had actually written a children's series, which was an absolute surprise to me.

SIMON: Well, you can't complain about results, though, can you?

KINNEY: No, I can't. I love this.

SIMON: Does Greg make bad choices so that kids don't have to?

KINNEY: You know, I'm really not trying to moralize to kids at all. I think Greg is sort of like a standup comedian¹⁰ who gets up on stage and talks about his own experiences. But it's through the prism of weakness and human failing. He wouldn't be that interesting of a character if he was always heroic.

SIMON: Always heroic? I'm trying to...

KINNEY: (Laughter) Never - sometimes every so often.

SIMON: Yeah.

KINNEY: I think he saved a squirrel with a broken leg once. So...

SIMON: Do I have this right? You just quit your day job?

KINNEY: Yeah. I had my day job until April of last year. So I guess it's been about a year.

SIMON: I guess the first run for this book is 3 million copies. Do you worry about the future?

KINNEY: Do I worry about the future? That's a great question. I wasn't worried until right now (laughter). Am I worried about failure? I'm excited. I am very, very, very lucky to be in this privileged position that, when I write a book, it reaches millions of kids. And that's something I really embrace. I try to do my best by kids and to try to write the funniest books possible.

SIMON: I found myself thinking at the end of the book, every young man or woman deserves a Rowley.

KINNEY: I think you're right. I think Greg doesn't deserve a Rowley, but he got one. So he's very lucky.

SIMON: Jeff Kinney, his new book "Diary Of An Awesome Friendly Kid." Thank you so much for being with us.

KINNEY: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID BENOIT'S "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID")