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04-26-14: A 2014 Interview with Mona Simpson

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"I think love stories do have a lot of terror in them."

—Mona Simpson

Interviewing Mona Simpson, as we discussed her superb novel, 'Casebook,' I could not help but be impressed by the combination of human insight and sheer intelligence she brought to the conversation. Her characters seem real to readers because she builds them in her own mind with an intimate degree of detail.

'Casebook' is a very intense novel to read. It's often very funny, then quite terrifying, then unbelievably poignant. Bu as a reader you never notice the transitions until after they have transpired. Her prose has the prickly feel of real life, and she's able to discuss how she achieves these effects.

Simpson and I also discussed her vision of Los Angeles. In the novel it feels spot-on, but my description of that differed sharply from hers. I've lived in both LA and Northern California as both an adult and a child. I was brought up as a child in both places, for long stretches of my life, and I brought up my own children in both places as well. It was fun to try to chart out why we had such different takes on the same sun-baked streets.

After our conversation, we were joined by Lori Moore, alas not on tape, as we mapped out what we were going to talk about for City Arts and Lectures. I'm told the broadcast of our show was pre-empted and when it gets scheduled, I'll let you know. In the interim, you can hear my conversation with Mona Simpson by following this link to the MP3 audio file.




04-23-14 UPDATE: Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 158: Mona Simpson, 'Casebook'

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Here's the one-hundred fifty-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 fifty-eighth episode is a look at Mona Simpson and 'Casebook.'

Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 158: Mona Simpson, 'Casebook'




04-21-14: A 2014 Interview with Lorrie Moore

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Photo Credit Zane Williams.

"..when you read really trashy newspapers about people killing each other and all, they're usually in the midst of a divorce."
—Lorrie Moore

Lorrie Moore is extremely good about letting her work speak for itself. She's a great live reader of her own stories. But she's also a teacher and her ability to convey ideas about her own writing came to the fore when we sat down to talk about the stories in 'Bark.'

Discussing a collection of short stories is a huge challenge for me, as I prefer to let readers explore the prose and the stories on their own. So when you pull out the plots and the actual prose from a short story, you have to be careful not to tear what remains to shreds, but again, Moore knows her own work and she lives in the canon. So a discussion about Lorrie Moore's work with Lorrie Moore is doubly informed.

Divorce is, of course, much on the minds of the characters in 'Bark,' but it's not the only thing. This is a book first and foremost that offers readers snapshots of how we live today. In a sense, this book is sort of a documentary, and while the stories are all fiction, it tells you more about the way that most Ame3ricans are getting by in the early 21st century than a raft of non-fiction, and in a manner that is much more charismatic.

Charisma is actually a key here, I realize in retrospect. Lorrie Moore has the easy authority that lends the writer an aura of the charismatic, the hypnotic. I suspect that this is because she knows us better than we know ourselves. She also knows literature better than most of us, and readers will find the literary allusions we discussed in the stories really quite fascinating. After hearing her, your reading and re-reading will be all the more enjoyable.

You can hear, or re-hear, my conversation with Lorrie Moore by following this link to the MP3 audio file.



New to the Agony Column

09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity

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

09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self

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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