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06-13-09: Alan Cheuse and 'Single Scene Short Stories' : One Book, Many Lessons

No, not every book has text, even, probably some textbooks. Still, here's a book where text is king and Alan Cheuse is your guide to intricacies of crafting great fiction. In today's conversation with Cheuse, we talked about the power of these short stories and about the literary elements of craft that give them their intensity. Rather than looking at three books, we look at many stories and venture into literary criticism and theory, stepping right past the lines the hem in book reviewers. We talk about Raymond Carver's one thousand page monument to minimalism and Alan reads an entire story by Amy Hempel. You can hear our conversation by following this link to the mp3 audio file.



06-12-09: Jeremy Lassen And Night Shade Books : Bringing Back Night Shade from the Undead

We know where to find the usual unusual. Just pop in your local independent bookstore and levitate over to the "I read great books with embarrassingly juvenile covers," section. There, in books festooned with busty babes brandishing big weapons and mighty-pect men glowering at the future or the world of fantasy before them, you will find the usual unusual. You'll find a few books too, or at least the percentage allotted by Sturgeon's Law.

Jeremy Lassen is a busy guy — too busy, as he tells it. If you’re interested in genre fiction, the publishing world and how a couple of guys can go out there and take on the entire "independent publishing" and then Random House, just for grins — then pull up a chair (or fasten your seat belt, if you're listening on the way to work) and catch the latest tale of terror from none other than Lassen himself. He[ll not only tell you how thrilling it is have piles of books in your house (that YOU published), he'll tell you about the coming months and Night Shade's quite wonderful catalogue. Let me mention that there's a Lovecraft-sorta deal coming out that sounds to my mind quite wonderful. So sit right back and hear the tale, the tale of a fateful trip ... by following this link aboard this tiny ship.



06-11-09: Anne Ishii Speaks to Her Museyon : Curating the Travel Guide

When last we met Anne Ishii, she was engulfed not in flames, but comic book pages, translating 99,000 cartoon balloons of dialogue. Time flies (unlike cartoon dialogue balloons) and even in the most inhospitable places, plants and publishing thrive. You might think you'd be better off engulfed in flames than starting a new publishing venture, but clearly, Anne Ishii thinks otherwise.

Anne Ishii is clearly not risk-averse. Starting a new line of book in a climate where publishers are cutting costs by cutting staff might seem like a risky proposition, but the deal with book is this:

They make you believe.

You read a book and connect, and that's a connection that just doesn't get dismissed by logical arguments. Anne Ishii, however, finds a lot of logical reasons to like the Museyon Travel Guides, and I suspect that many readers will as well. These are solid books — well-written, crowded in the way travel books are but with a sense of purpose and beauty often lacking in their brethren. You can hear how a publishing company gets founded and why, as well as what's up with the latest spin on travel books by following this link to the mp3 file.



06-10-09: Agony Column Podcast News Report — Agony Column Broadcast Show from February 22, 2009 : Michael Katakis and Xinran"

The world is still much with us, and thusly, so should we still be listening to world traveler and commentator, Michael Katakis as he talks about his book 'Traveller' and Xinran speak about her book 'China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation'.

We'll keep it short and to the point today, because we have lots of work in the hopper. Today's podcast is a slight edit of my broadcast show from February 22, of 2009; it featured Michael Katakis and Xinran, both worldly writers. I find it interesting how much our perception of the world has changed in four mere months, and thus, hearing these writers in a new setting is really quite interesting. Because you can't cross the same river twice, you can't hear the same interview twice either. The audio's changed and so have you. You can find out how by following this link to podcast of a broadcast.



06-08-09 : A 2009 Interview with Guillermo Del Toro : "They are essentially vermin"
Guillermo Del Toro and Rick Kleffel, Beverly Hills, CA

Of course there's the true terror for an interviewer; the fear that you'll get stood up, especially when you're a web guy or (more terrifying) vaguely associated with NPR. With that sort of double-whammy, I watched the seconds crawl with just about as much terror as I'd experienced reading 'The Strain.' But after experiencing not-undue strain, I was able to talk with Guillermo Del Toro, and we totally hit it off, since we're both big fans of monsters. Nothing like a shared adolescent joy to fire up a conversation. Del Toro is every bit as smart and funny as you might think, plus, did I mention that he loves his monsters? He also talks extensively about the writing and collaboration process, as well as exploring the differences between writing for film and writing a novel. Once we got going, his minder had to stop us. You can hear the result by following this link to our interview.



New to the Agony Column

04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 202: Kazuo Ishiguro : The Buried Giant

04-17-15: Commentary : Erik Larson Follows a 'Dead Wake' : Countdown to Destiny

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Erik Larson : " "...said to have been found in the arms of a dead German sailor..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 201: Erik Larson : Dead Wake

04-15-15: Commentary : Peter Bell Reflects 'A Certain Slant of Light' : Strange Stories of Modern Scholars

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Peter Bell : "...I looked up some of the old books..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 200: Peter Bell : Strange Epiphanies and A Certain Slant of Light

03-14-15: Commentary : Marc Goodman Foresees 'Future Crimes' : Exponential Potential

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It

03-01-15: Commentary : William Ury on Getting to Yes with Yourself: And Other Worthy Opponents : To the BATNA, Robin!

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William Ury : ...he proceeded to shout at me for approximately 30 minutes..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 198: William Ury : Getting to Yes with Yourself: And Other Worthy Opponents

02-22-15: Commentary : Jennifer Senior Experiences 'All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood' : Reading Fun for the Whole Fambly!

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jennifer Senior : "...it becomes a source of enormous tension once a baby comes along..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 197: Jennifer Senior : All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood

02-09-15: Commentary : Stewart O'Nan Looks 'West of Sunset' : Twilight of the Great

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Stewart O'Nan : "...we see him as a tragedian because is life is a tragedy..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 196: Stewart O'Nan : West of Sunset

02-04-15: Commentary : Armistead Maupin Maps 'The Days of Anna Madrigal' : Swiftly Flow the Years

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Armistead Maupin : "I could see what silliness was going on while it was happening..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 195: Armistead Maupin : The Days of Anna Madrigal

01-31-15: Commentary : Christine Carter's Path to 'The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work' : Neurohabits

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Christine Carter, Ph.D. : "...a real tipping point..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 194: Christine Carter, Ph.D. : The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work

01-23-15: Commentary : Jake Halpern Pushes 'Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld' : Non-Fiction 21st Century Noir

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jake Halpern : "...he goes to Las Vegas to this debt-buyers' convention..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 193: Jake Halpern : Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld

01-19-15: Commentary : David Shields and Caleb Powell Assert 'I Think You're Totally Wrong' : The Power to Bicker

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with David Shields and Caleb Powell : "I read no book reviews any more; the level of discussion is really pedestrian." David Shields "I'm just saying it's a conflict of interest!" Caleb Powell

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 192: David Shields and Caleb Powell : I Think You're Totally Wrong

01-17-15: Commentary : Charles Todd Expects 'A Fine Summer's Day' : We Interrupt This Program...

Commentary : Charles Todd Engages In 'A Test of Wills' : The Politics of Passion and Policing

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Charles and Caroline Todd : "...let them be themselves and sort it out..." Caroline Todd "...it's more on a personal level..." Charles Todd

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 191: Charles Todd : A Fine Summer's Day

01-13-15: Commentary : Rosalie Parker Unearths 'The Old Knowledge' : The New Old World

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker : "I thought I'd write something for fun.." Ray Russell "..there was a side of me of that was interested in the strangeness..." Ros Parker

01-12-15: Commentary : Richard Ford 'Let Me Be Frank with You' : The Default Years

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Richard Ford : "...most of our politicians are morons..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 190: Richard Ford : Let Me Be Frank with You

01-06-15: Commentary : Bessel van der Kolk 'The Body Keeps the Score' : Human Trauma

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Bessel van der Kolk : "...being able to see what happens in the brain really helps us to understand certain things..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 189: Bessel van der Kolk : The Body Keeps the Score

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