Tell Me What You’re Reading
By Howard Altarescu
Talking about books on the streets of New York, in the mountains of the Catskills and on the road. I find that when I ask people about what they’re reading, they tend to start talking about books generally and then start talking to others about books. Encouraging the discussion of books cannot be a bad thing!
“Books are a sort of cultural DNA, the code for who, as a society, we are, and what we know. All the wonders and failures, all the champions and villains, all the legends and ideas and revelations of a culture last forever in its books.” @susanorlean, The Library Book
“Books are a sort of cultural DNA, the code for who, as a society, we are, and what we know. All the wonders and failures, all the champions and villains, all the legends and ideas and revelations of a culture last forever in its books.” @susanorlean, The Library Book
Tell Me What You’re ReadingNov 12, 2021
00:00
32:01
Ep. #51 - Elizabeth Lesser: Broken Open/ Marrow/ Our Town / Tom Lake/ Omega Institute
Elizabeth Lesser discussed on my Podcast the founding of Omega Institute - internationally recognized for its wellness, spirituality, creativity, and social change workshops and conferences - as well her beautiful and inspiring books about finding protection and blessings in the broken moments of our lives; enjoying the passage of time; realizing what we have in life; appreciating every moment we are alive - Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow - and about being present to each moment; being who you are, answering the call of your soul, authenticity; unconditional love; learning to avoid straining against pain; being impeccable with our words; understanding that the only purpose of life is to shine the light you were given - Marrow: Love, Loss & What Matters Most. Elizabeth also discussed Thornton Wilder’s classic play, Our Town, and Ann Pachette’s magnificent novel, Tom Lake, and the themes they share with her books.
Elizabeth is one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100 - a collection of leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity - and a two time TED talker - “Take The Other to Lunch” and “Say your truths and seek them in others”
Dec 01, 202340:59
Ep. #50: Amy Shearn and Hannah Oberman-Breindel - To the Lighthouse
I enjoyed talking with Amy Shearn and Hannah Oberman-Breindel this summer when they were in the Artist-in-Residence writing program at Woodstock’s Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, and even more so on our recent podcast discussion of Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, which is considered to be one of the great literary masterpieces of the twentieth century.
I had not previously read any Virginia Woolf and I had not studied literary modernism. Despite being uninitiated, I was struck by the way Woolf captured the human condition and, in a realistic way, the unstructured non-linear thought processes of her characters.
Written in 1927, the novel spans the time from just before to just after World War I
The story itself, which has numerous autobiographical overlaps, revolves around the Ramsey family and their guests at their summer home by the sea in the Scottish Hebrides. Lots goes on, but only in the sense that life goes on, and it’s all really great.
Our podcast discussion was very much in the vein of Woolf’s stream of consciousness narrative style, depicting “the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator, “an overlapping of images and ideas”.
Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary,
“The method of writing smooth narrative can’t be right. Things don’t happen in one’s mind like that, we experience, all the time, an overlapping of images and ideas, and modern novels should convey our mental confusion instead of neatly rearranging it. The reader must sort it out”.
And we did try to sort it out!
I had not previously read any Virginia Woolf and I had not studied literary modernism. Despite being uninitiated, I was struck by the way Woolf captured the human condition and, in a realistic way, the unstructured non-linear thought processes of her characters.
Written in 1927, the novel spans the time from just before to just after World War I
The story itself, which has numerous autobiographical overlaps, revolves around the Ramsey family and their guests at their summer home by the sea in the Scottish Hebrides. Lots goes on, but only in the sense that life goes on, and it’s all really great.
Our podcast discussion was very much in the vein of Woolf’s stream of consciousness narrative style, depicting “the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator, “an overlapping of images and ideas”.
Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary,
“The method of writing smooth narrative can’t be right. Things don’t happen in one’s mind like that, we experience, all the time, an overlapping of images and ideas, and modern novels should convey our mental confusion instead of neatly rearranging it. The reader must sort it out”.
And we did try to sort it out!
Nov 07, 202350:33
Ep. # 49 Carol Graham: Passion! In Park Slope, a “cozy” murder mystery
Our Woodstock friend Carol Graham recently told me that her new book was just about to be published. She said something like, “Howard, this is not like one of the big, great fiction books you read, this is a ‘cozy’“. I had no idea at the time what a “cozy” was. but I do now.
British crime novelist and detective fiction writer, P. D. James has been credited with saying that “All fiction is largely autobiographical”
Carol is a Texan but has lived in Brooklyn and Woodstock for the last 21 years, and is now a real estate agent in both areas. Carol is also a member of the Woodstock Writers Group and a two-time winner of the Woodstock BookFest Story Slam!
Carol’s newly published book, Passion! In Park Slope features a Texas born Brooklyn real estate agent who has not lost her drawl. Coincidental or autobiographical?
We discussed Carol’s new book as well as “cozy” mysteries generally on our recent podcast discussion..
Carol’s website Brooklynmurdermysteries.com
British crime novelist and detective fiction writer, P. D. James has been credited with saying that “All fiction is largely autobiographical”
Carol is a Texan but has lived in Brooklyn and Woodstock for the last 21 years, and is now a real estate agent in both areas. Carol is also a member of the Woodstock Writers Group and a two-time winner of the Woodstock BookFest Story Slam!
Carol’s newly published book, Passion! In Park Slope features a Texas born Brooklyn real estate agent who has not lost her drawl. Coincidental or autobiographical?
We discussed Carol’s new book as well as “cozy” mysteries generally on our recent podcast discussion..
Carol’s website Brooklynmurdermysteries.com
Oct 26, 202321:04
Ep. #48 David Gordon commemorates Cormac McCarthy and The Road
On an Upper Byrdcliffe Road walk in Woodstock this past summer, I noted to my friends, Perry Beekman and David Gordon, the recent death of Robert Gottlieb, the most acclaimed book editor of the last 50+ years. I’ve previously mentioned on the podcast, Gottlieb’s really great memoir, Avid Reader.
David noted that writer Cormac McCarthy had also then recently died. David expressed enthusiasm for McCarthy’s great works over the years. I had read McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece, The Road, many years prior and I still get a chill in my bones when I think about it.
I asked David whether he would like to come on the podcast to commemorate Cormac McCarthy and to talk about The Road, and the rest of McCarthys great works. And here we are.
Published in 2006, The Road is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic and frightening warning, but it’s also a story of the love between a father and a son and of the lengths to which a father might travel for his son, literally and figuratively. It’s emotional, chilling and also beautifully written.
David noted that writer Cormac McCarthy had also then recently died. David expressed enthusiasm for McCarthy’s great works over the years. I had read McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece, The Road, many years prior and I still get a chill in my bones when I think about it.
I asked David whether he would like to come on the podcast to commemorate Cormac McCarthy and to talk about The Road, and the rest of McCarthys great works. And here we are.
Published in 2006, The Road is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic and frightening warning, but it’s also a story of the love between a father and a son and of the lengths to which a father might travel for his son, literally and figuratively. It’s emotional, chilling and also beautifully written.
Oct 07, 202330:50
Ep. #47 An Ecotopia Conversation with Artist Kelly M O’Brien
Carol and I walked up the road in early September to visit the Open Studios of the Artists-in-Residence Program at Woodstock’s Byrdcliffe Arts Colony. The Byrdcliffe Arts Colony was founded in 1903 by Ralph Whitehead, the son of a wealthy mill owner from Yorkshire, England. Whitehead was influenced by utopian ideas when he studied at Oxford, and he developed an enduring vision to found his own “brotherhood of artists” community. The Artists-in-Residence program is one of the many Byrdcliffe programs today that carry on Whitehead’s legacy.
Carol and I saw some really interesting works at the Open Studios and were really struck by an outdoor installation by my guest, artist Kelly M O’Brien.
On the podcast, Kelly and I discussed her installation, which is called “Ecotopia Conversation”, and its relationship to the 1975 novel Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston, by Ernest Callenbac. “Ecotopia” describes a utopian world created by the secession in 1980 of Oregon, Washington and Northern California from the United States. It was a cult novel at the outset, and over the years became required reading as environmental studies took off. We truly had an Ecotopia Conversation.
Carol and I saw some really interesting works at the Open Studios and were really struck by an outdoor installation by my guest, artist Kelly M O’Brien.
On the podcast, Kelly and I discussed her installation, which is called “Ecotopia Conversation”, and its relationship to the 1975 novel Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston, by Ernest Callenbac. “Ecotopia” describes a utopian world created by the secession in 1980 of Oregon, Washington and Northern California from the United States. It was a cult novel at the outset, and over the years became required reading as environmental studies took off. We truly had an Ecotopia Conversation.
Sep 26, 202342:46
Ep. #46 Steph Kent: Hamnet - A Novel of the Plague + The Call Me Ishmael Project
Steph Kent, co-founder, with her husband Logan Smalley, of the Call Me Ishmael project joined me to discuss Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell, the book I have recommended more than any other over the last few years.
Hamnet is a work of fiction, but it’s based in part on certain core facts on which O’Farrell builds this beautiful, devastatingly sad story, albeit with a sweet ending, of the impact of Hamnet’s death on his family, and its relationship to the writing of Hamlet.
The book is a master class in the use of detail to tell a story, and the production of Hamlet produces a beautiful, poetic and moving conclusion. I frequently describe Hamnet as one of the best books I have ever read.
Shakespeare is never mentioned by name in the book. I realized who Hamnet’s father was when I read of his letters home reporting on rival playhouse owners, crowds and costumes. Leaving Shakepere’s name out of the narrative is a useful tool to avoid Shakespeare stealing the limelight, which is left to his wife Agnes, who is a strong, mystical and intriguing presence throughout the book. I greatly admired Agnes, and I also was deeply moved by the grief of both Agnes and Shakespeare over the loss of their son.
Steph and Logan’s Call Me Ishmael project invites readers to celebrate the books they love. Anyone can call Ishmael at 774.325.0503 and leave an anonymous voicemail message about their favorite book. Thousands of readers have called and over a million readers have listened to this library of stories.
Steph and Logan joined me on the podcast in November 2019: Ep. 20: The Call Me Ismael Project; Steph Kent and Logan Smalley
Aug 13, 202331:55
Ep. #45 Tony Wolf: “Tales From The Wolf”
My friend Tony Wolf and I discussed “Tales From The Wolf”, Tony’s memoir about his years living in Greenpoint, and including a compilation of his New York Times “food cartoon” features, his superhero stories, a moving 9/11 tribute, and Trump era political cartoons. “Tales From The Wolf” can be purchased here. Tony is a cartoonist, an actor (including on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), a singer, film director, and illustrator. He’s essentially a storyteller, a journalist at heart. Tony’s website.
We discussed Tony’s cartooning journey from the time he was a young child, his cartoonist role models, and how he “unwittingly created a new genre in the New York Times food section … a whole new world of visual comics about food.”
This is one wide ranging discussion, longer than my usual but great fun. Hope you enjoy it. “Tell Me What You’re Reading”, wherever you listen to podcasts. #bookwormsinthewild
We discussed Tony’s cartooning journey from the time he was a young child, his cartoonist role models, and how he “unwittingly created a new genre in the New York Times food section … a whole new world of visual comics about food.”
This is one wide ranging discussion, longer than my usual but great fun. Hope you enjoy it. “Tell Me What You’re Reading”, wherever you listen to podcasts. #bookwormsinthewild
Jun 17, 202301:11:35
Ep. #44: Erica Obey - The Brooklyn North Murder
Our discussion about Erica Obey’s mystery novel, the Brooklyn North Murder, turned into a discussion of The Typology of Detective Fiction, by Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, and literary theorist Tzvetan Todorov, a discussion about AI bots, their invasion into the publishing industry, plagiarism charges, and what it means for a book to be ghost written. We discussed Mountweazels, the dark web, The Chronicles of Narnia, early 19th century English aristocrat, publisher and linguist, Lady Charlotte Guest, locked-room murder mysteries, plotters and pantsers, and Erica’s “chaotic” writing style. We also conducted a ChatGPT experiment. Rabbit holes abound. Erica is a graduate from Yale University and has an MA in creative writing from City College of New York and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the City University of New York, where she published articles and a book about female folklorists of the nineteenth century. In addition to The Brooklyn North Murder, Erica is the author of six other mysteries, most set in the Hudson Valley. Erica is also the past president of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
Apr 02, 202332:20
Ep. #43: Tom Vartanian: The Unhackable Internet: How Rebuilding Cyberspace Can Build Real Security and Prevent Financial Collapse
Tom pulls no punches in his new book as he vividly and colorfully, and also convincingly, describes our cyber security vulnerabilities. As he explains, we are living on the razor’s edge between prosperity and devastation; the possibility of a digital Pearl Harbor, of a geopolitical D-day, of a technological and geopolitical tsunami, and of systemic vulnerabilities, including to our entire financial system, with the risk of a financial meltdown and economic annihilation, and also, among other things, vulnerability to the world’s food supply.
He refers to unprecedented threats and describes the cyber security risk as one huge virtual improvised explosive device, a quintessential existential threat, the greatest threat to the future of humanity.
He also refers to the “technological euphoria“ in the market, as we all “mindlessly” click “yes” to accept terms of service, whatever they may be, and as tech start ups “move fast and break things”, get to market first and worry about security later; and he refers to all of this as the twenty-first century version of the tulip bulb mania.
He concludes that there has been for the most part short term thinking, an absence of any sense of urgency, a failure of vision, will and leadership, lack of technological expertise within the regulatory agencies, a pedestrian approach; which he describes as penetrating insights into the obvious and rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. That’s a pretty damning conclusion.
As a result of what Tom refers to as the norm of inaction and rudimentary analysis, we have today a “kindergarten level” cyber defenses, a practice of apologize, rinse and repeat, an attitude of defeatism in the face of a three-alarm fire. At the same time, we have no cyber police or virtual firefighters, no internet police.
He refers to unprecedented threats and describes the cyber security risk as one huge virtual improvised explosive device, a quintessential existential threat, the greatest threat to the future of humanity.
He also refers to the “technological euphoria“ in the market, as we all “mindlessly” click “yes” to accept terms of service, whatever they may be, and as tech start ups “move fast and break things”, get to market first and worry about security later; and he refers to all of this as the twenty-first century version of the tulip bulb mania.
He concludes that there has been for the most part short term thinking, an absence of any sense of urgency, a failure of vision, will and leadership, lack of technological expertise within the regulatory agencies, a pedestrian approach; which he describes as penetrating insights into the obvious and rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. That’s a pretty damning conclusion.
As a result of what Tom refers to as the norm of inaction and rudimentary analysis, we have today a “kindergarten level” cyber defenses, a practice of apologize, rinse and repeat, an attitude of defeatism in the face of a three-alarm fire. At the same time, we have no cyber police or virtual firefighters, no internet police.
Mar 16, 202349:24
Ep. #42: Katharine L. McKenna - The Paleontologist's Daughter
Carol and I recently attended a lovely dinner party hosted by Abigail Sturges and other supporters of the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild. On its website, the Guild describes itself as “a vibrant center for arts and crafts in the beautiful and unique rural community of Woodstock, New York, while preserving the historic and natural environment of one of the earliest utopian arts colonies in America.” Carol and I live in the Woodstock Byrdcliffe community and the beauty abounds whichever way you turn.
I had the good fortune of being seated next to Katherine McKenna at Abigail's dinner party. Katherine is on the Board of the Guild and was Carol’s painting and color Instructor at the Woodstock School of Art, which is a sweet coincidence. Katherine and her brothers Douglas, Andrew and Bruce grew up in Englewood New Jersey, and Carol was Bruce McKenna’s 8th grade elementary school teacher. Small world.
Katherine now divides her time between the Hudson Valley and the American West. Her landscape paintings of Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Arizona reveal an attachment to the natural geology and essence of place that she was first exposed to on the childhood trips she writes of in her memoir.
Katherine has exhibited widely, and her paintings reside in permanent collections of the Rockwell Museum, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Booth Museum, the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, and the Desert Caballeros Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona
Katherine also serves on the boards of Pratt Institute, the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and the Arts Society of Kingston.
Over dinner, Katherine told me of her father’s work as a paleontologist, including at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and of her own field work out West with her father when she was very young. I was fascinated that her artistic journey started with what she was exposed to at a very young age, and what she learned at the side of her father.
Katherine mentioned that she had written a memoir, which I then ordered from the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and that we discussed on the podcast
Feb 08, 202342:57
Ep. #41: Alison Gaylin/ Wendy Corsi Staub - domestic psychological thrillers, etc.
My podcast guests are Alison Gaylin , a bestselling mystery writer who has been nominated for the Edgar Award four times, and has won the award in the category of Best Paperback Original for If I Die Tonight, and New York Times bestseller, and Wendy Corsi Staub, the award-winning author of more than ninety novels, best known for her psychological suspense novels. We discussed The Collective – No Killer Goes Unpunished (by Alison) and The Other Family (by Wendy), both compelling, chilling page turners. We also discussed psychological suspense thrillers generally in which the perpetrator is coming from inside the house, or from inside the mind.
Oct 26, 202219:14
Ep. #40: Todd Spire of Esopus Creel
Todd Spire is a licensed fly fishing guide and instructor, and is the owner of Esopus Creel, a company devoted to fly fishing in the Catskill Mountains, where he’s lived since 2008. Todd’s on the board of the local Trout Unlimited chapter, which helps to protect the Esopus Creek, which feeds into the Ashokan reservoir, which provides New York City with about 40% of its drinking water. Todd is a scholar of our local river, the Esopus Creek. Todd discusses Neversink - One Angler's Intense Exploration of a Trout River, by Leonard M. Wright, Jr., and also the beauty and the rhythm of trout fishing in the Catskills, learning through observation and experience, and the futility of trying to control mother nature. After the credits, Todd discusses the relationship of birds over the water to the presence of insects, the relationship between the blooming of flowers and insect hatches, turbidity on the Esopus, and the impact of warm temperatures on our trout fishing, and particularly whether we will be fishing earlier or later in the season as a result of warming temperatures. All consistent with Todd’s drive to learn from observation and experience rather than solely from what others have written and from Google.
Sep 30, 202245:35
Ep. #39: Jen Maxfield - More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories
Jen Maxfield is an Emmy® Award winning correspondent for NBC 4 New York. She covers breaking news and general assignment stories in New Jersey, and is a fill-in anchor on all of NBC 4 New York’s newscasts.
Jen has covered many of the Tri-State area’s most memorable and powerful stories throughout her long career. More After the Break describes her initial reporting and follow up many years later for the 2003 Staten Island ferry crash, Katrina and Sandy in 2005 and 2012, a 2011 horrendous hit and run casualty, and several other accidents, tragedies and moving stories. The stories themselves are compelling, but mostly I loved Jen’s honesty, and her humility and introspection; the way she expressed the vital role of local news reporters in the community; her bouts of what she referred to as “news guilt”; and her expression of the "moral ambiguity" of her job, while recognizing her professional obligations.
Jen has covered many of the Tri-State area’s most memorable and powerful stories throughout her long career. More After the Break describes her initial reporting and follow up many years later for the 2003 Staten Island ferry crash, Katrina and Sandy in 2005 and 2012, a 2011 horrendous hit and run casualty, and several other accidents, tragedies and moving stories. The stories themselves are compelling, but mostly I loved Jen’s honesty, and her humility and introspection; the way she expressed the vital role of local news reporters in the community; her bouts of what she referred to as “news guilt”; and her expression of the "moral ambiguity" of her job, while recognizing her professional obligations.
Aug 07, 202230:16
Ep. #38: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Discussion with the Woodstock Shakespeare Festival directors
Our friend Maxine Davidowitz recently introduced me to Hank Neimark, telling me that Hank was getting ready to work on the Summer 2022 Woodstock Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After talking with Hank for just a short time, I asked if he would like to talk about the play on the podcast, and he agreed.
At Hank’s suggestion, we were joined on the podcast by David Aston Reese, the Producing Artistic Director of the Bird-On-A-Cliff Theatre Company in Woodstock. David has acted, directed and produced works for Bird-On-A-Cliff Theatre Company's Woodstock Shakespeare Festival and The Woodstock Playhouse. David is the Director of the Summer 2022 Woodstock Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hank is working with him.
Hank and David, both extraordinarily knowledgeable and enthusiastic Shakespearians, discussed A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s often misguided or misdirected lovers, the Kings and Queens, marriages, and dreams, the irrepressible Bottom and Puck, and the other “mechanicals” and fairies, the play within the play, and the tension between what some think of as one of Shakespeare’s most sexual plays, and also as the one most suitable for children. An unlikely but highly effective combination.
Lots of discussion as well about the production of the play, the direction embedded in the language of the play, and the “choreography”, i.e. the blocking, and stage direction, that comes together with the music that is embedded in Shakespeare’s words. Our discussion culminates with Hank’s Mel Brooks impersonation from “Queen Alexandra and Murray”.
At Hank’s suggestion, we were joined on the podcast by David Aston Reese, the Producing Artistic Director of the Bird-On-A-Cliff Theatre Company in Woodstock. David has acted, directed and produced works for Bird-On-A-Cliff Theatre Company's Woodstock Shakespeare Festival and The Woodstock Playhouse. David is the Director of the Summer 2022 Woodstock Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hank is working with him.
Hank and David, both extraordinarily knowledgeable and enthusiastic Shakespearians, discussed A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s often misguided or misdirected lovers, the Kings and Queens, marriages, and dreams, the irrepressible Bottom and Puck, and the other “mechanicals” and fairies, the play within the play, and the tension between what some think of as one of Shakespeare’s most sexual plays, and also as the one most suitable for children. An unlikely but highly effective combination.
Lots of discussion as well about the production of the play, the direction embedded in the language of the play, and the “choreography”, i.e. the blocking, and stage direction, that comes together with the music that is embedded in Shakespeare’s words. Our discussion culminates with Hank’s Mel Brooks impersonation from “Queen Alexandra and Murray”.
Jul 21, 202253:49
Ep. #37: L. Mark Weeks - Bottled Lightning; Moby Dick; the writing process; etc.
My guest for this episode is Mark Weeks, a friend and former colleague at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Mark has practiced law at Orrick in New York and Tokyo for more than 30 years and after many years as a Partner and head of Orrick’s Tokyo office, Mark is now a Senior Counsel at the firm. Mark is also a world class, award winning, international saltwater fly fisherman.
It is said that first novels are at least partly autobiographical, and much of Mark’s debut novel, Bottled Lightning, neatly overlaps with his life and career: a top global technology lawyer and avid motorcyclist, born in Alaska and practicing law in Japan. The objective of our discussion was to discuss Mark’s novel, and we did. However, we talked at least as much about Melville’s Moby Dick, which I had mentioned, and Mark’s writing process. All great. Thanks Mark!
May 22, 202245:44
Ep. #36: Trinh Q. Truong - The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
My guest for this episode is Trinh Q. Truong. Trinh came to the U.S. from Vietnam with her mother about 20 years ago. During what we in the U.S. refer to as the Vietnam War, Trinh’s grandfather worked for the governments of the Republic of Vietnam and the United States doing intelligence work, mainly mapping the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Most of the rest of her family was engaged during the war years in democratic activism in the country. After Saigon fell in 1975, Trinh’s grandparents and eight of their children—with the exception of Trinh’s mother, who was one year old—were sent to reeducation labor camps for nine years to atone for their wartime allegiances. Trinh herself is a longtime refugee activist in the U.S. and a recent graduate of Oxford in England with a masters degree in refugee and forced migration studies.
When I met Trinh last summer, we had, what to me, is an inevitable discussion of books. As I was intrigued by her background, I asked Trinh if there was a book she might like to discuss with me on the podcast. Trinh said that she had started reading The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen several times, and that she would get through it this fall and then talk with me.
The Sympathizer is a beautifully written, dark and tragic novel set during and after the war in Vietnam. The unnamed narrator is a Western-educated Vietnamese. While he is working for the CIA in Saigon and serving as aide-de-camp to a South Vietnamese general, he is also a spy for the North, secretly sending intelligence to the insurgents, and his spying continues as he joins Vietnamese refugees in America after the war. Adding to the difficulties for our narrator, his boyhood friends are soldiers fighting for the South. The narrator is torn apart by his conflicting sympathies. Now, sometime in the late 1970s, the narrator is in a communist prison, addressing an interrogator who demands that he explain his activities among the enemy. The book is ultimately an indictment of the French, the Americans and the Vietnamese themselves.
More on Trinh
From Vietnam to Utica and back again: Reflecting on my refugee journey Trinh Truong
When I met Trinh last summer, we had, what to me, is an inevitable discussion of books. As I was intrigued by her background, I asked Trinh if there was a book she might like to discuss with me on the podcast. Trinh said that she had started reading The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen several times, and that she would get through it this fall and then talk with me.
The Sympathizer is a beautifully written, dark and tragic novel set during and after the war in Vietnam. The unnamed narrator is a Western-educated Vietnamese. While he is working for the CIA in Saigon and serving as aide-de-camp to a South Vietnamese general, he is also a spy for the North, secretly sending intelligence to the insurgents, and his spying continues as he joins Vietnamese refugees in America after the war. Adding to the difficulties for our narrator, his boyhood friends are soldiers fighting for the South. The narrator is torn apart by his conflicting sympathies. Now, sometime in the late 1970s, the narrator is in a communist prison, addressing an interrogator who demands that he explain his activities among the enemy. The book is ultimately an indictment of the French, the Americans and the Vietnamese themselves.
More on Trinh
From Vietnam to Utica and back again: Reflecting on my refugee journey Trinh Truong
Jan 20, 202237:10
Ep. #35: Tom Vartanian - 200 Years of American Financial Panics - Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology That Will Change It All.
Tom Vartanian discusses his recent book, 200 Years of American Financial Panics - Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology That Will Change It All. Tom is the former head of the financial institutions practice at two major law firms; the former General Counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and at the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation; and the former executive director and professor of law at George Mason University's Scalia Law School Program on Financial Regulation & Technology.
Nov 12, 202132:01
Ep . #16 Kate McGloughlin - Requiem for Ashokan - The Story Told in Landscape
Kate McGloughlin is a painter and printmaker (and storyteller), and during her long career, she has exhibited in notable galleries and museums around the world. Kate is president emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Woodstock School of Art, where she teaches printmaking and landscape painting, including to Carol, and where she directs the Printmaking Studio. Through her paintings, poetry and prose, Kate’s book, Requiem for Ashokan, The Story Told in Landscape, is her outlet to tell a personal story with universal themes of tragedy, loss, grief, confusion and rage, as well as of migration, shared resources, competition for resources, and the importance of fair treatment by the government. Kate lives and maintains her own studio in Olivebridge, NY, near the site of the Ashokan Reservoir, which is at the center of our discussion. The Ashokan Reservoir and its aqueducts and tunnels were built to get water to New York City to alleviate chronic and dangerous water shortages in the rapidly growing metropolis, but the cost was borne by the thousands of residents of the Esopus Valley who were displaced from their family homes and farms and mills; taken from them and demolished to make room for the reservoir, which dammed the Esopus Creek and then flooded the valley.
Aug 19, 202124:54
Ep. #34: Brian E. Denton - War and Peace (Tolstoy)
My guest for this episode is Brian E. Denton. Brian has been reading Tolstoy’s great novel War and Peace every year for the last ten years, one chapter a day, which results in a year long read of the 361 chapters. Brian has also produced an e-book titled “War and Peace and A Year of War and Peace”, which includes the full text of the novel as well as Brian’s reflective essays, his insightful commentary on each chapter. War and Peace was brought to my attention at the beginning of the pandemic when I learned of Princeton Professor Yiyun Li’s online “Tolstoy Together” book club, which contemplated reading 15-16 pages a day in order to complete the novel in 85 days. I didn’t jump on Professor Li’s bandwagon but I’m glad I learned of Brian and his work.
At the time I recorded our discussion, we were a little over one half way through this epic novel. Tales of aristocratic abundance and privilege in 1805 Moscow, and simultaneously, Russia’s war with Napoleon’s France. Peace and war. Tales told through the characters, including, most notably, Pierre, Andrey, Rostov, Natasha, Nikolay, Marya, Denisov, Dolokhov, Sonya, Helene, Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, among many, many others. I can see why Brian and others are serial readers, just to know whose who.
Aug 07, 202127:52
Ep. # 33: Jim Finnegan (Again): Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart; etc.
My friend Jim Finnegan (who was my guest on episode #3 of our podcast) discusses Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart; a tough book but a great read. An unfortunate tale of growing up gay in working class poor Glascow with an alcoholic mother; anger, sadness, lack of hope, despair and dependence. Jim and I also discuss Milkman, Ironweed, The Vanishing Half, The Shadow King, Deacon King Kong, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Interior Chinatown, Lolita, Caro’s LBJ biographies, The Power Broker, Motherless Brooklyn (film), Angela’s Ashes, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, Ten Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World. A Swim In a Pond in the Rain - In Which Four Russians Give A Master - Class on Writing, Reading and Life, Passing, The Tenant and The Natural. Another whirlwind of a discussion with Jim. Reviews of each of these books are linked in my website www.bookwormsinthewild.com
Apr 17, 202137:01
Evelyn Lerman - A Tribute. Discussing “A Dressmaker's Threads: The Life and The Legacy of My Russian Immigrant Mother"; and discussing the life and legacy of Evelyn as well
Special Edition (March 31, 2021) Our friend Evelyn Lerman wrote a loving biography titled “A Dressmaker's Threads: The Life and The Legacy of My Russian Immigrant Mother", which was published in 2013. In July 2018, I sat down with Evelyn in her cabin in Winslow Maine to discuss the biography she wrote about her mother. As you will hear, I use the excuse of talking to Evelyn about her book to talk with Evelyn about her own life as well. Evelyn describes her mother - Celia Gorfinkel - as a remarkable woman, who in 1920, with a sick husband and an infant, escaped from the Czar's Army in Russia, walked across Europe from the Ukraine, and sailed to Ellis Island. Celia was a dressmaker who worked 12-18 hour days at her sewing machine and whose love for education motivated her to put Evelyn and her two sisters through college. Our warm, loving and dear friend, Evelyn passed away on March 17, 2021. Ev, as remarkable as her mother, was 95 years old; married to Albert for almost 74 years. Evelyn was vibrant to the end. We are all very sad, but have been reflecting on what a wonderful, fulfilling and productive life Ev had, a journalism degree from Simmons College, graduate degrees in education and human development from Harvard, a teacher and later an administrator in the Brookline, Massachusetts Public Schools for 27 years, author of four books, traveling (including cross country with Albert in their RV in their late 80s), teaching writing to adults and directing a reading program for third graders while in her 90s, the blessings of her children, her grands and her great grands, Camp Caribou, and, most of all Albert. Our entire family is so blessed to have been a part of Ev and Al’s life. Carol was 19 years old when she first met Evelyn as a student teacher in Ev's elementary school classroom, and Carol and Ev then taught together as colleagues. Carol adopted Evelyn as her “chosen mother“ and Evelyn and Albert also adopted us. We visited Ev and Al at Camp Caribou in Maine almost every summer beginning in about 1972 for over 40 years. Melanie, Dave and Ben also had wonderful relationships with Evelyn (and with Albert too). Evelyn was a role model and a friend for us all, but most especially for Carol, whose loving relationship with Evelyn was very special. The Altarescus all feel the pain, Carol most deeply among us, but it was Carol who so wisely referred to this loss as a part of the circle of life. We love the entire Lerman family and know that there are so many wonderful memories to sustain them all. I’m so glad to have had this discussion with Evelyn a few years ago, and to publish the discussion now as a tribute to our friend.
Mar 31, 202151:56
No. 31: Charlotte Cross - Reading to write, and novels about "marginalized characters" (The Brides of Dracula, etc.)
Charlotte Cross of Oxford, England is working on a tale of the “Brides of Dracula”, following in the footsteps of other novels that have given voice to “marginalized characters”, characters (usually women) who haven't been given the chance to speak in the originals. These others include The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker and Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys. Charlotte discusses those books, and others, as well as her writing process. Charlotte also discusses the books she has recently read: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte, Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
Feb 21, 202122:10
Ep. #29: Andrew Wilcox - Richard Ravitz and Paul Volcker memoirs, Lewis’ The Fifth Risk, JFK, Nixon, and Lepore’s masterpiece, These Truths, A History of the United States
Andrew Wilcox discusses So Much to Do: A Full Life of Business, Politics, and Confronting Fiscal Crises, a memoir by Richard Ravitz, former head of the New York State Urban Development Corporation and of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Keeping At It, by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker; The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis; JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917‒1956, by Fredrik Logevall; Being Nixon: A Man Divided, by Evan Thomas; and These Truths, A History of the United States, by Jill Lepore
Nov 14, 202027:47
Ep #28: Andrew Rice - Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Andrew Rice discusses Jonathan Mahler's book, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, which includes stories of New York City in 1977, the mayoralty race, Cuomo, Koch (Bess Meyerson), Bella, Giuliani, Bloomberg, LaGuardia, The Daily News, The New York Post, New York Magazine, Murdoch (Succession), Breslin, Hamill, Steinbrenner, Reggie, Billy Martin, Thurman, Cosell, Son of Sam, Bed Stuy, Bushwick, South Bronx, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Saturday Night Live, Rolling Stone, Studio 54, Tavern on the Green, Windows on the World, Elaine’s, Maxwell’s Plum (Warner LeRoy), Jim MacMullen’s, etc.
Andrew also discusses his forthcoming book, A Popular History of the Year 2000 in the State of Florida, which will describe the Bush v. Gore election controversy ("the most wild and improbable election outcome you can imagine - so far"); the pilots planning 9/11 who were training at flight centers on Florida, for 18 months before the attacks; Donald Trump's presidential run as a Reform Party candidate; young Cuban kid, Elian Gonzalez, washed up on the shore in Miami; enraged Cuban community in Florida, determinative in Presidential election; resulted in 24hour coverage (the first reality television); and an arms dealing, money laundering case ("the most obscure but most fascinating tale"). giCFrjk28vXx9A4GkET1.
Andrew also discusses his forthcoming book, A Popular History of the Year 2000 in the State of Florida, which will describe the Bush v. Gore election controversy ("the most wild and improbable election outcome you can imagine - so far"); the pilots planning 9/11 who were training at flight centers on Florida, for 18 months before the attacks; Donald Trump's presidential run as a Reform Party candidate; young Cuban kid, Elian Gonzalez, washed up on the shore in Miami; enraged Cuban community in Florida, determinative in Presidential election; resulted in 24hour coverage (the first reality television); and an arms dealing, money laundering case ("the most obscure but most fascinating tale"). giCFrjk28vXx9A4GkET1.
Oct 02, 202044:56
Ep #27: Rob Chesnut - Intentional Integrity - How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution— and Why That’s Good for All of Us
Rob Chesnut discusses his new book Intentional Integrity - How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution— and Why That’s Good for All of Us, and explains how intentional integrity and intentional inclusion make companies more attractive to employees and to customers, and make such companies out-performers as well.
Rob began his journey in the U.S. Justice Department, including as a federal prosecutor, and then he joined eBay as an early employee and ultimately had responsibility for overseeing all site rules and policies for the eBay global community of over 150 million users. Rob later was General Counsel of LiveOps, Inc. and then of Chegg. Most recently, Rob was General Counsel and then Chief Ethics Officer of Airbnb.
Rob began his journey in the U.S. Justice Department, including as a federal prosecutor, and then he joined eBay as an early employee and ultimately had responsibility for overseeing all site rules and policies for the eBay global community of over 150 million users. Rob later was General Counsel of LiveOps, Inc. and then of Chegg. Most recently, Rob was General Counsel and then Chief Ethics Officer of Airbnb.
Jul 27, 202025:46
Ep. #26 Allen Guy Wilcox – A Gentleman in Moscow
Allen Guy Wilcox, founding Artistic Director of The Theater at Woodshill, a not for profit summer Shakespeare festival in central New York, discusses "A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles, an elegant, historical novel in post revolutionary Moscow, expounding on the literature, poetry and classical music of the time, and on the timelessness of friendship, children, parenting, food and wine, and on the pace of life itself. Grand entertainment, and more, surrounding the life of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov. "He was wise enough to know that life does not proceed by leaps and bounds. It unfolds. At any given moment, it is the manifestation of a thousand transitions. Our faculties wax and wane, our experiences accumulate, and our opinions evolve - if not glacially, then at least gradually. Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew."
Mar 03, 202024:57
Ep. #25: Camilla Calhoun - The White Moth
Camilla Calhoun discusses The White Moth, a beautifully told, moving and lovely memoir, both historical and very personal. Much of the story takes place on a 15th century farm villa in Tuscany during very challenging times in Italy, from the 1930s to the 1970s: wars, political upheaval, deprivation, fascism, occupation and change. The book is very much a tribute to Camilla’s rock of a mother-in-law, Alda Innocenti Rafanelli. The tribute is offered in the form of Camilla’s memoir of what was intended to be a sojourn in Italy to pursue her passion for writing, her romance with and marriage to Alda’s son, Aldo and eventually a story of three generations at the villa.
Feb 22, 202027:59
Ep. # 24: 2020 Book Club - Kendra Dodson Breitsprecher, owner/editor of Dayton Leader newspaper in Iowa, discusses bios written by Dem Pres. caucus candidates.
When Andrea Phillips, who was then Vice Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, started a book club to encourage her fellow Iowans to read the books written by the 2020 Democratic party Presidential candidates, my wife Carol and I heard Andrea interviewed on MSNBC. Andrea said that Iowa Democrats take their role in vetting the presidential candidates seriously, and that she hoped the book club would help voters know the candidates better so that people can make a good decision on caucus night, which is on February 3.
Andrea decided to launch the 2020 Book Club and to put up a 2020 Book Club Facebook page so that Iowans, and others as well, could have a forum to discuss the books written by all of the Democratic presidential candidates.
After hearing the interview, I immediately thought that we should do a podcast discussion of the books authored by the candidates and I tracked down Andrea on FaceBook.
Andrea is now busy full time seeking the Iowa House District 37 seat, but we were really fortunate to have the opportunity to have a discussion with Kendra Dodson Breitsprecher, the owner and editor of the Dayton Leader newspaper in Dayton, Iowa, a small town located in the middle of the state. Kendra is also a charter member of the 2020 Book Club.
Andrea decided to launch the 2020 Book Club and to put up a 2020 Book Club Facebook page so that Iowans, and others as well, could have a forum to discuss the books written by all of the Democratic presidential candidates.
After hearing the interview, I immediately thought that we should do a podcast discussion of the books authored by the candidates and I tracked down Andrea on FaceBook.
Andrea is now busy full time seeking the Iowa House District 37 seat, but we were really fortunate to have the opportunity to have a discussion with Kendra Dodson Breitsprecher, the owner and editor of the Dayton Leader newspaper in Dayton, Iowa, a small town located in the middle of the state. Kendra is also a charter member of the 2020 Book Club.
Jan 24, 202037:13
Ep. #23 Uli Beutter Cohen: Mona Eltahawy, Alexander Chee, Ocean Vuong, Erin Williams, Lauren Duca
After discussing the Subway Book Review project in our Episode 22, Uli Beutter Cohen and I discussed five books that Uli has recently read and recommends: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee, an essay collection by a Korean American artist and activist; The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy, which has been referred to as a striking anti-patriarchal manifesto written by an Egyptian American activist, “with enough rage to fuel a rocket”; On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong Ocean is a young Vietnamese-American writer — born in Saigon, he was raised in Hartford, Connecticut and his book is semi-autobiographical and speaks to his experiences as an immigrant and a gay man; COMMUTE - An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame by author and illustrator Erin Williams, which has been referred to as intimate, clever, and ultimately gut-wrenching graphic memoir about the daily decision women must make between being sexualized or being invisible; and How to Start a Revolution, by Lauren Duca. To compliment Chee’s work, Uli also mentioned and discussed Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott; and Devotion: Why I Write, Patti Smith
Jan 15, 202022:38
Ep. #22 Subway Book Review: Uli Beutter Cohen
For the last five years, Uli Beutter Cohen has been talking with people on New York City subways about the books she sees them reading on the subway. Uli refers to her Subway Book Review as a social media project. The project now also has contributors in Washington D.C., London, Berlin, Milan, Barcelona, Mexico City, Sydney, and Santiago. Discussions with subway readers, pictures of the readers and their books are posted on Instagram @subwaybookreview.
Dec 26, 201920:57
Ep. #21 Tracy Sidesinger - What My Mother and I Dont Talk About
Tracy Sidesinger, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist in New York City, discusses “What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence”, edited by Michele Filgate. (“Some of these essays are harrowing, some heartwarming, some — like a lot of mother-child relationships — a mix of both. All of them suggest, though, that if you can talk to your mother, you should.” Tampa Bay Times)
Tracy also refers to Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty by Jacqueline Rose, and also Feminine Law: Freud, Free Speech, and the Voice of Desire by Jill Gentile with Michael Macrone. Tracy has said that all three books are along a similar theme, that is, addressing expectations of the feminine and opening up more authentic and useful discourse.
Tracy also refers to Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty by Jacqueline Rose, and also Feminine Law: Freud, Free Speech, and the Voice of Desire by Jill Gentile with Michael Macrone. Tracy has said that all three books are along a similar theme, that is, addressing expectations of the feminine and opening up more authentic and useful discourse.
Nov 30, 201928:44
Ep. # 20 The Call Me Ishmael Project; Steph Kent and Logan Smalley
Call Me Ishmael is a New York City-based project that invites readers to call and leave a voicemail message about their favorite book. Thousands of readers have already called and over a million readers have listened to this library of stories. Steph Kent and Logan Smalley are the founders of the Call Me Ishmael project and they are privy to the reading interests of the thousands of people who have called in. To call Ishmael, call Ishmael’s number: 774.325.0503. It goes straight to voicemail. Listen to Ishmael’s short answering machine message and leave a voicemail about a book you love and a story you have lived. The Call Me Ishmael website shows the books that readers have called in to discuss. Listen to the recordings on the Call Me Ishmael Youtube channel.
Nov 10, 201924:40
Ep. #19 Visiting Days, by Gretchen Primack
While visiting the Golden Notebook bookstore in Woodstock last summer, my daughter Melanie and I met and struck up a conversation with bookseller, author and poet, Gretchen Primack. It turns out that Gretchen is also an educator in a more formal sense. Gretchen has taught and/or administrated with prison education programs (mostly college) in maximum security prisons since 2006.
Gretchen recently released a new book of poems called ”Visiting Days”, which is inspired and informed by her years of first hand experience teaching and administrating in maximum security prisons.
Visiting Days has been described as a collection of short, keen dramatic monologues, a work of advocacy as well as of poetry.
Gretchen recently released a new book of poems called ”Visiting Days”, which is inspired and informed by her years of first hand experience teaching and administrating in maximum security prisons.
Visiting Days has been described as a collection of short, keen dramatic monologues, a work of advocacy as well as of poetry.
Jul 26, 201930:58
Ep. #18 Pride Month/ Stonewall 50: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
In connection with the celebration by my law firm, @Orrick, of Pride Month and the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, I discussed with Alvin Lee and Amy Pasacreta of Orrick The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai, which is a very moving, beautiful and at the same time devastating, award winning novel about the AIDs epidemic in Chicago in the 1980s, its impact on young gay men and on the survivors as well.
I’m very proud to say that Orrick has a long standing commitment to inclusiveness that enables the LGBTQ lawyers and staff of the firm to be authentic and to thrive. For 13 consecutive years, Orrick achieved a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s annual Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates LGBTQ-related policies and practices, and Orrick was one of the first global law firms to offer benefits to same-sex couples and to also offer fully inclusive transgender benefits.
I’m very proud to say that Orrick has a long standing commitment to inclusiveness that enables the LGBTQ lawyers and staff of the firm to be authentic and to thrive. For 13 consecutive years, Orrick achieved a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s annual Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates LGBTQ-related policies and practices, and Orrick was one of the first global law firms to offer benefits to same-sex couples and to also offer fully inclusive transgender benefits.
Jun 24, 201932:56
Ep. #17 Josh Raff discusses four sets of "paired" books, and more.
A discussion by a serious and thoughtful,reader of four sets of "paired" books - Song of a Captive Bird + The Age of Light/ Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom + East West Street: On the Origins of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide/ Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll + Fasting and Feasting/ Golden Hill + His Bloody Project - and also Solitary; The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, a History of Greenwich Village; Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art; and The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean. This is one full agenda!
Jun 20, 201939:41
Ep. #15 Sophie McManus: The Art of Time in Fiction
Sophie McManus (master's degree in fiction writing/ teaching writing at Sarah Lawrence College; author of critically acclaimed novel, The Unfortunates) discusses The Art of Time in Fiction by Joan Silber, and a variety of books written in Classic Time, Long Time, Slowed Time, Switchback Time and Fabulous Time.
May 30, 201937:27
Ep. #14 Nick Lyons: Fly fishing and other lit.; flys, tiers; joy, intensity and solitude of fishing.
Nick Lyons is a lifelong fisherman and has also written 20 highly regarded books about his passion for the outdoors and fly fishing, has edited and published many more, and Nick also for 25 years wrote the Seasonable Angler column for “Fly Fisherman” magazine.
Nick’s memoir, Spring Creek, is a love letter to a creek in Montana. In it, Nick writes that he aims for his writing “to be rich enough to catch some of the stillness, complexity, joy, fierce intensity, frustration, practicality, hilarity, fascination, [and] satisfaction” that he finds in fly fishing. If you read anything that Nick has written, you will enjoy that richness.
We discuss on the podcast the Esopus Creek, the Amawalk, the East Branch of the Croton, the Odell in Montana, the Bourne in the U.K. and the rivers in New Zealand, as well as the books and authors Nick loves. We also talk about fly selection, fly tiers and solitude on the river.
Nick’s memoir, Spring Creek, is a love letter to a creek in Montana. In it, Nick writes that he aims for his writing “to be rich enough to catch some of the stillness, complexity, joy, fierce intensity, frustration, practicality, hilarity, fascination, [and] satisfaction” that he finds in fly fishing. If you read anything that Nick has written, you will enjoy that richness.
We discuss on the podcast the Esopus Creek, the Amawalk, the East Branch of the Croton, the Odell in Montana, the Bourne in the U.K. and the rivers in New Zealand, as well as the books and authors Nick loves. We also talk about fly selection, fly tiers and solitude on the river.
May 09, 201934:37
Ep. #13 Keith Grossman: Bad Blood, American Kingpin and Red Notice - “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!”
Keith discusses three astounding and true tales, as well as internet privacy and manners, and audio books + Springsteen
Apr 17, 201933:27
Ep. #12 Alexis Coe on history, research and writing and the tale of Alice + Freda Forever
Alexis Coe discusses Alice + Freda Forever, the book, podcast and movie; also the research and writing process + her forthcoming bio of George Washington.
Apr 05, 201944:17
Ep. #11 Dylan Marron: Educated, by Tara Westover + Dylan’s “softness as strength”, etc.
Dylan Marron discusses “Educated”, the momentous memoir by Tara Westover + wielding softness as strength, empathy on the internet, online and offline personalities and reading audibly.
Mar 29, 201937:04
Ep. #10 Joe Polizzotto - Strout, Barry, etc.
Joe Polizzotto discusses the works of Elizabeth Strout, Sebastian Barry and other great novelist.
Dec 23, 201825:58
Ep. #9: Children’s Books . . . Follow-up to Youngna Park discussion
Parents of young children tell me what they are reading and, no surprise, it’s books they read to and with their children.
Nov 30, 201838:03
Ep. #8: Youngna Park on children’s books
Conversation with Youngna Park, Executive Director of Parenting at The New York Times - Children’s Books; what to read to your kids!
Oct 30, 201837:16
Ep. #7: Payton Turner - Women’s anger and, sometimes, rage
Payton discusses The Blazing World and Now My Heart is Full, and also her own experiences as an art student, and the meaningfully ways she has responded to anger and rage.
Oct 22, 201826:21
Ep. #6: Catskills Potpourri - Marty’s Mercantile
Conversations at Marty’s Mercantile in West Shokan - our geological beginnings, Of Mice and Men and Moby Dick, dystopian tales and sobering memories of war.
Oct 14, 201823:16
Ep. #5: Maya Prohovnik - Stephen King!, Detectives & Sci-fi
Maya Prohovnik - a Stephen King “Superfan”! + Detective tales and Maya’s “favorite book of all time”, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s sci-fi adventure tale, Children of Time.
Oct 04, 201822:38
Ep. #4: Reading for the words, with Emma Holland
Emma Holland discusses what she is reading as well as how she reads, highlights and rereads, her love for words, and also her favorite book in the last decade, Too Much and Not the Mood by Durga Chew-Bose.
Sep 26, 201827:25
Ep. #3: An impressive tour of 30 + books in about 35 minutes
Tell Me What You’re Reading #3: Jim Finnegan on a literary tour de force, from Haruki Murakami to Joe Ide, Jennifer Egan, Stephen King and many others
Sep 20, 201801:13:55
Ep.#2: Understanding the Nation & Finding Common Ground with Dr. Hardin Coleman
Dr. Hardin Coleman discusses the 11 distinct regions of the country and their particular political, social and emotional traits, President Grant’s pardon of the Confederate generals after the Civil War in order to preserve national unity and the need to find the right balance between acting locally and globally in order to have an impact on the issues we face in the nation today.
Sep 13, 201841:54
Ep. #1: History of Comic Books with Dr. Frank Burbrink
In the inaugural episode of Tell Me What You’re Reading, Dr. Frank Burbrink discusses the history of comic books, which were, for many of us, the very first books we read.
Sep 05, 201815:46