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02-14-14: A 2014 Interview with Jenny Offill

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"..where did the rest of me go?"

—Jenny Offill

Jenny Offill's 'Dept. of Speculation' is a breeze to read, but a tough experience. As I sat down to talk to the author upstairs at Bookshop Santa Cruz, I had a few domestic issues of my own to consider. Mine might be more economic, but there's a universality to Offill's novel that is disarming.

Offill and I talked mostly about the nature of the narrative, which is to say, the spaces she creates and the manner in which they are created. This is a novel that rewards the reader because we do a lot of the heavy storytelling lifting as we whip through the book. My hope in the interview is to give Offill the opportunity to speak about how she does and what she does rather than what happened.

That said, I could not let some specifics go undiscussed. And given what we did talk about, I'd like to emphasize that it is only a small part of the story. It might make your skin itch a little, but real terror is much more internalized. Give yourself a couple of hours and prepare to go mad.

You can hear my conversation with jenny Offill by following this link to the MP3 audio file.




02-13-14 UPDATE: Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 148: Jenny Offill, 'Dept. of Speculation'

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Here's the one-hundred forty-eighth episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I seem to be on top opf the game, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to stay back up and stumbling.

The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know.

My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.

The one-hundred forty-eighth episode is a look at Jenny Offill and 'Dept. of Speculation.'

Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 148: Jenny Offill, 'Dept. of Speculation'




02-10-14: A 2014 Interview with Kelly Corrigan

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"You just hope you get to have that whole second act with your children."
—Kelly Corrigan

It is apparently a year for second acts, or in Kelly Corrigan's case, third acts, as 'Glitter and Glue' is her third memoir. What's interesting about interviewing a memoirist is tht the story they are telling in the book is the story they have told all their lives. It's their own story, and whole feel of such an endeavor is different.

| Corrigan's memoir is a perfectly complicated work of simple storytelling. It's very easy to read and to a degree it's easy to miss how sophisticated the narrative is. I admit to having a peculiar approach to the work. On one hand, everything we read here clearly has the ring of truth. But there's an amazing level of artistry required to convey the very complex conclusions Corrigan reaches.

My inclination as an interviewer is to unquestioningly accept the facts of a memoir. But telling what happened is not the same as telling the truth, and Corrigan excels at the latter and the former. I spent some time exploring the dual nature of the narration, and the creativity that went into shaping the narrative.

Corrigan is oe of the smoothest and smartest interviewees I've ever spoken to. I suppose it comes from working in memoir, but she really knows what she's about, and it's fascinating to hear how she wove together three different levels of memoir into a book tht reads so cleanly as 'Glitter and Glue.' Plus does great imitation of her mother.

Readers can hear Kelly Corrigan talk about mastering memoir by following this link to the MP3 audio file.



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Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."

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Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 213: Susan Casey : Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins

08-24-15: Commentary : Felicia Day Knows 'You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)' : Transformative Technology

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Felicia Day : "I think you have to be attention curators for audience in every way."

08-22-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 212: Felicia Day : You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]

Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]

08-10-15:Agony Column Podcast News Report : In Memory of Alan Cheuse : Thank you Alan, and Your Family, for Everything

07-11-15: Commentary : Robert Repino Morphs 'Mort(e)' : Housecat to Harbinger of the Apocalypse

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Robert Repino : "...an even bigger threat. which is us, the humans..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Robert Repino : Mort(e)

07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Michael Gazzaniga : Tales from Both Sides of the Brain: A Life in Neuroscience

06-26-15: Commentary : Neal Stephenson Crafts an Eden for 'Seveneves' : Blow It Up and Start All Over Again

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Neal Stephenson : "...and know that you're never going to se a tree again..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 207: Neal Stephenson : Seveneves

06-03-15: Commentary : Dan Simmons Opens 'The Fifth Heart' : Having it Every Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Dan Simmons : "...yes, they really did bring those bombs..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 206: Dan Simmons : The Fifth Heart

05-23-15: Commentary : John Waters Gets 'Carsick' : Going His Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with John Waters : "...you change how you would be in real life...”

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 205: John Waters : Carsick

05-09-15: Commentary : Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD and 'Shrinks' : A Most Fashionable Take on the Human Mind

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : "..its influence to be as hegemonic as it was..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 204: Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

04-29-15: Commentary : Barney Frank is 'Frank' : Interpersonally Ours

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Barney Frank : "...while you're trying to change it, don't ignore it..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 203: Barney Frank : Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage

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

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 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 2015 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

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