How to make an unlikeable character likeable

Building your book around an unlikeable character is a risky gamble — but Ethan Canin has done it in his new novel, "A Doubter's Almanac."

The controversial character at the center of it is Milo Andret, a hard-drinking, womanizing, self-absorbed mathematician who struggles to grasp the geometry of human relationships.

Canin joined MPR News host Kerri Miller to talk about his new book, and the difficulty of forgiveness.

"People do fall both ways on it," Canin said of Andret's likability. "I actually happen to love him. He's a misbehaver: He does a lot of things you're not supposed to do. He's wildly self-interested, he's wildly ambitious, but much of his behavior comes out of pain — for me, that's always a forgivable thing."

Canin said his compassion for difficult characters may have come from his previous career as a medical doctor.

"I was working in the emergency room, I saw a lot of people who were down and out, who had a lot of bad things happen to them," he said. "There was always something I loved about those people, even though a lot of them had done terrible things."

In the book, Andret's wife, mistresses and children must all grapple with his self-destructive choices. This conflict is at the heart of it for Canin.

"It's about facing a difficult character and dealing with a difficult character over a lifetime, and what that means for the members of his family: Whether they can forgive him, whether they want to forgive him."

For the full discussion with Ethan Canin on "A Doubter's Almanac," use the audio player above.