The epigraph “…but life is a trick, life is a kitten in a sack.” —-Anne Sexton Before that she says, “that she tried to reach into her page and breathe it back”. Why can’t one do that? Was Mae trying to accomplish that? Was she successful? Why/how do you put a kitten in a sack in the first place? Why doesn’t Dennis get to tell his story? And are we dealing with reliable narrators. You know some things happened a long time ago. It’s a bit like Barnes’ Sense of An Ending. Is what we remember what ...
Sep 21, 2018•40 min
The epigraph “…but life is a trick, life is a kitten in a sack.” —-Anne Sexton Before that she says, “that she tried to reach into her page and breathe it back”. Why can’t one do that? Was Mae trying to accomplish that? Was she successful? Why/how do you put a kitten in a sack in the first place? Why doesn’t Dennis get to tell his story? And are we dealing with reliable narrators. You know some things happened a long time ago. It’s a bit like Barnes’ Sense of An Ending. Is what we remember what ...
Sep 21, 2018•1 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Our guest today is Reyna Grande, author of A Dream Called Home published by Atria, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, just this month. Reyna is an award winning novelist and memoirist. She has received an American Book Award and the Latino Book Award. Her novels, Across a Hundred Mountains and Dancing With Butterflies, not only have been published to critical acclaim but more importantly are read in schools across the coun...
Sep 13, 2018•31 sec
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Our guest today is Miriam Pawel author of The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation, published by Bloomsbury this month. Miriam is the author of the award winning The Crusades of Cesar Chavez. Here, she has tackled the Brown family father and son, studying them from their roots in California and their effect over generations on the state, the sixth largest economy in the wor...
Sep 12, 2018•42 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Our guest today is Miriam Pawel author of The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation, published by Bloomsbury this month. Miriam is the author of the award winning The Crusades of Cesar Chavez. Here, she has tackled the Brown family father and son, studying them from their roots in California and their effect over generations on the state, the sixth largest economy in the wor...
Sep 12, 2018•42 sec
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Our guest today is Reyna Grande, author of A Dream Called Home published by Atria, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, just this month. Reyna is an award winning novelist and memoirist. She has received an American Book Award and the Latino Book Award. Her novels, Across a Hundred Mountains and Dancing With Butterflies, not only have been published to critical acclaim but more importantly are read in schools across the coun...
Sep 12, 2018•36 min
So did I get the “titles” right? So this may take awhile. I’ll start at the beginning. I love the cover. Did you get to vet some, did you pick it or did you have any say in it. Moving on to the epigraphs. Peter Sloterdijk. I love the sentiment, but he was a very controversial figure, in his time, especially with regard to his view on Eugenics. And then the next which is more obscure in meaning. (Bernard Tschumi) How do concrete (no pun) structures tame our fears? He is controversial as well, esp...
Aug 26, 2018•41 min
So did I get the “titles” right? So this may take awhile. I’ll start at the beginning. I love the cover. Did you get to vet some, did you pick it or did you have any say in it. Moving on to the epigraphs. Peter Sloterdijk. I love the sentiment, but he was a very controversial figure, in his time, especially with regard to his view on Eugenics. And then the next which is more obscure in meaning. (Bernard Tschumi) How do concrete (no pun) structures tame our fears? He is controversial as well, esp...
Aug 26, 2018•1 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Ben Marcus, author of Notes From The Fog, his collection of short stories published August 27th by Knopf. When last we heard from Ben we were talking about his novel The Flame Alphabet, a book that in some ways, in my opinion, shares many of the characteristics as do some of these stories. As you may recall, Ben is the author of several books. As I mentioned The Flame Alphabet, The Age of Wire and Strin...
Aug 15, 2018•48 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Ben Marcus, author of Notes From The Fog, his collection of short stories published August 27th by Knopf. When last we heard from Ben we were talking about his novel The Flame Alphabet, a book that in some ways, in my opinion, shares many of the characteristics as do some of these stories. As you may recall, Ben is the author of several books. As I mentioned The Flame Alphabet, The Age of Wire and Strin...
Aug 15, 2018•2 min
Dr. Scott is the Emeritus Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Science at Royal Holloway University in London. He has been a professor at Yale, a Fellow at Berkeley. He holds numerous degrees from the University of London. He is the author or editor of 10 academic books. His research on coal and the geological history of fire has been recognized the word over. The History Of Fire relies on growing evidence for fire in our past record. We have a history of fire that has been with us ov...
Jul 30, 2018•39 min
Dr. Scott is the Emeritus Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Science at Royal Holloway University in London. He has been a professor at Yale, a Fellow at Berkeley. He holds numerous degrees from the University of London. He is the author or editor of 10 academic books. His research on coal and the geological history of fire has been recognized the word over. The History Of Fire relies on growing evidence for fire in our past record. We have a history of fire that has been with us ov...
Jul 30, 2018•57 sec
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Beth Macy author of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, And The Drug Company That Addicted America. published this month by Little, Brown and Company. Beth is a journalist who writes about outsiders and underdogs. Her writing has won more than a dozen national journalism awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard and the 2013 J. Anthony Lukas Word-in-Progress award for "Factory Man: How One...
Jul 17, 2018•55 sec
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Beth Macy author of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, And The Drug Company That Addicted America. published this month by Little, Brown and Company. Beth is a journalist who writes about outsiders and underdogs. Her writing has won more than a dozen national journalism awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard and the 2013 J. Anthony Lukas Word-in-Progress award for "Factory Man: How One...
Jul 17, 2018•45 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, published in June by Viking. Rebecca’s books have been translated into many languages and her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories in 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008. Which is actually quite a big deal. He first novel was The Borrower, an Indie Next pick, her second novel was The Hundred-Year House and I remember the great revie...
Jul 17, 2018•38 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Meghan MacLean Weir, author of The Book of Essie published just last month by Knopf. Meghan’s memoir Between Expectations: Lessons From A Pediatric Residency chronicles her years in training at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. She still works as a physician and continues to write as well. The Book Of Essie is her first novel. Essie is a teenager whose entire life has been documented...
Jul 02, 2018•36 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Meghan MacLean Weir, author of The Book of Essie published just last month by Knopf. Meghan’s memoir Between Expectations: Lessons From A Pediatric Residency chronicles her years in training at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. She still works as a physician and continues to write as well. The Book Of Essie is her first novel. Essie is a teenager whose entire life has been documented...
Jul 02, 2018•4 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Zachary Wood, author of Uncensored: My Life And Uncomfortable Conversations At The Intersection of Black And White, released just least month by Dutton. Zachary’s primary goal in this book, in addition to telling us his life story in memoir form, is to encourage uncomfortable conversations. He graduated from (just this year) Williams College where he served as President of Uncomfortable Learning, a stud...
Jul 02, 2018•33 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Zachary Wood, author of Uncensored: My Life And Uncomfortable Conversations At The Intersection of Black And White, released just least month by Dutton. Zachary’s primary goal in this book, in addition to telling us his life story in memoir form, is to encourage uncomfortable conversations. He graduated from (just this year) Williams College where he served as President of Uncomfortable Learning, a stud...
Jul 02, 2018•23 sec
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Ceridwen Dovey, (KER EH DWIN DOUGH VEE) author of In The Garden Of The Fugitives, published, in America, in May by FSG. Ceridwen’s previous work includes her debut novel Blood Kin which has been published in fifteen countries and was selected for the National Book Foundation’s 5 under 35 honors list. She next gave us Only The Animals, a collection of short stories. She will publish Writers on Writers: h...
Jun 21, 2018•29 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Ceridwen Dovey, (KER EH DWIN DOUGH VEE) author of In The Garden Of The Fugitives, published, in America, in May by FSG. Ceridwen’s previous work includes her debut novel Blood Kin which has been published in fifteen countries and was selected for the National Book Foundation’s 5 under 35 honors list. She next gave us Only The Animals, a collection of short stories. She will publish Writers on Writers: h...
Jun 21, 2018•32 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition go The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Abdi Nor Iftin, author of Call Me American: A Memoir published just last week by Alfred Knopf. This book is the story of a miracle, a series of miracles, set against a backdrop of pain, suffering and horror. Abdi fell in love with America as a child. He learned English from Arnold Shwarzeneger and Michael Jackson, from Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. When the first waves of U.S. Marines landed, in ...
Jun 13, 2018•42 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition go The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Abdi Nor Iftin, author of Call Me American: A Memoir published just last week by Alfred Knopf. This book is the story of a miracle, a series of miracles, set against a backdrop of pain, suffering and horror. Abdi fell in love with America as a child. He learned English from Arnold Shwarzeneger and Michael Jackson, from Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. When the first waves of U.S. Marines landed, in ...
Jun 13, 2018•3 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Tommy Orange author of There There published just last week by Knopf. Tommy is a recent graduate of the MFA program at The Institute of American Indian Arts. He is a 2014 Macdowell Colony Fellow and a 2016 writing by writers fellow. He is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. There There is an ensemble book, in some ways, reminding me of movies like Robert Altman’s Nashville...
Jun 13, 2018•22 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Tommy Orange author of There There published just last week by Knopf. Tommy is a recent graduate of the MFA program at The Institute of American Indian Arts. He is a 2014 Macdowell Colony Fellow and a 2016 writing by writers fellow. He is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. There There is an ensemble book, in some ways, reminding me of movies like Robert Altman’s Nashville...
Jun 13, 2018•1 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Will Mackin, author of Bring Out The Dog. His first novel published by Random House in March. Will is a 23 year veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, NYT Magazine and Tin House and has been anthologized in The Best Short Stories of 2014. Bring Out The Dog allows us to peer through the lens of someone who was there and to also co...
Jun 01, 2018•33 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Will Mackin, author of Bring Out The Dog. His first novel published by Random House in March. Will is a 23 year veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, NYT Magazine and Tin House and has been anthologized in The Best Short Stories of 2014. Bring Out The Dog allows us to peer through the lens of someone who was there and to also co...
Jun 01, 2018•1 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Read. Today our guys it Curtis Sittenfeld, author of You Think It, I’ll Say It: Stories published in April by Random House. Curtis is the bestselling author of five novels. Those books have been selected by the NYT, Time, EW and People for many Ten Best lists, optioned for TV and film and translated into 30 languages. Her short stories have appeared in the WP, Esquire and her non-fiction has appeared in the NYT, Time, Vanity Fair...
Jun 01, 2018•47 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of the Avid Reader. Today our guest is Fran Leadon, author of Broadway: A History of New York City in 13 Miles published in April by Norton. Mr. Leadon is an Associate Professor at City College and worked with Norval White and Eliott Willensky in publishing the AIA Guide to New York City, Fifth Edition (Oxford University Press, 2010) And he is from my home town of Gainesville Florida. Broadway is not just a street or an Avenue or a Boulevard...
Apr 30, 2018•48 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of the Avid Reader. Today our guest is Fran Leadon, author of Broadway: A History of New York City in 13 Miles published in April by Norton. Mr. Leadon is an Associate Professor at City College and worked with Norval White and Eliott Willensky in publishing the AIA Guide to New York City, Fifth Edition (Oxford University Press, 2010) And he is from my home town of Gainesville Florida. Broadway is not just a street or an Avenue or a Boulevard...
Apr 30, 2018•31 sec
