Bart Yates is the award-winning author of seven novels, including “Leave Myself Behind,” “The Brothers Bishop,” and “The Third Hill North of Town,” the last of which was written under his pen name, Noah Bly. Yates works as a professional musician and teacher who gives private music lessons in his home studio. He currently lives in Iowa City and has taught writing at the Iowan Summer Writing Festival. 

His latest novel, “The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl,” follows a gay man born at the end of World War I who recounts 12 remarkable days from his 96-year-long life. Spanning most of the 20th century, the book is written as a memoir told from the viewpoint of an accomplished journalist and historian. The book’s goal is to remind readers that there is no such thing as an ordinary life. 

This interview was edited for length and clarity. 

The Daily Iowan: How did you first find the inspiration for “The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl”?

I think I’ve always wanted to tell this story. I’ve been drawn to books that follow somebody throughout their entire life and have always wanted to write one of those, so I finally decided it was time to do it. I also really like history and family drama too. This book seemed like a perfect fit for both of those.

How did you choose which 12 days or times in the life of Isaac Dahl to focus on with a 100-year timespan to work with? 

I started this book around eight years ago, and it sat in a drawer for a couple of years. At the time, I decided that I wanted it to take place over basically the entire 20th century and run almost up to the present day. And then I just decided that once I had the first event, I wanted it to follow a young kid who was eight years old. I thought, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be kind of cool to jump the same amount of time every chapter?’ I picked eight years at random and found different events happening that I wanted to write about. 

When writing, did you change writing styles or Isaac’s “voice” at all as he grew older? 

Not too much because the book is written as him looking back at his life in the past. He’s an old man writing about his life, and his voice is pretty standard. As far as how he talks from chapter to chapter, in his dialogue he sounds different somewhat as he ages. But as far as the narrative voice, it’s consistent.

Has living in Iowa City influenced your work at all?  

It’s a good town for writers. You can’t shake a tree, or a writer falls out here. One of the chapters in the book is about the tornado that blew through here in the early 2000s, and living here definitely influenced it. However, I’m not aware of it influencing kind of my take on the world because I’ve lived a lot of places. 

What do you want readers to take away after experiencing this story? 

I hope that it encourages people to take a look at their own lives and think about how much can happen in the course of a life. Also, how the relationships with people that we carry with us for big chunks of it, like our family and close friends, influence us and make us who we are. I also just hope that they’re entertained and that it’s a fun book to read.