Anne Lamott: Beyond Bird by Bird
Anne Lamott started out as a novelist, but it was her best-selling 1994 nonfiction work Bird by Bird: Some Instruction on Writing and Life that catapulted her to fame. The book became a touchstone to...
View ArticleLionel Shriver's Comedy of Terrorism
Edgar, a successful corporate lawyer, rashly quits his job to become a journalist. He’s rescued from hack freelancing with a big break: a stringer assignment in a place called Barba, a (fictional)...
View ArticleNovelist Chris Adrian
Chris Adrian's novels tell dark, fantastical stories that draw on his experience working as a pediatric oncologist. Adrian tells Kurt Andersen how writing helps him deal with the emotional burden of...
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Paul Theroux's Narrow Escape
Over the last 50 years, the writer Paul Theroux has visited most of the countries on Earth, traveling in a deep, slow, observant way most of us never do. And his novels are often about people more or...
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Jesmyn Ward: Waiting for Katrina
Jesmyn Ward was at the tail end of summer break when Hurricane Katrina struck her hometown of Delisle, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast. She was supposed to be back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to start...
View ArticleGlen Duncan: Talulla Rising
Glen Duncan got strong reviews for his novels and showed up on lists of best young writers. But that didn’t sell his books or get publishers to buy them. Then, in his 40s, Duncan made a drunken New...
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Karen Thompson Walker: The Age of Miracles
Earlier this summer, one second was added to the earth's official atomic clock. Turns out the earth is slowing by a few milliseconds a year. If we didn't add these "leap seconds" to the official world...
View ArticleJulian Barnes: The Sense of an Ending
Julian Barnes’s novel The Sense of an Ending follows the thoughts of an unreliable narrator in his 60s trying to reconstruct events and feelings from his youth. After it won the Man Booker Prize last...
View ArticleThe Legacy of David Foster Wallace
Back in 1996, when I was just starting to think about my first novel, which I wanted to be big and funny and serious and say fresh things about modern life, a new novel appeared on my doorstep. A...
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Susanna Moore: The Life of Objects
Susanna Moore remains best known for her 1995 erotic thriller In the Cut, about a writing teacher who descends into a seedy world of murder and sexual violence. “I never want to write another sex...
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Why Salman Rushdie Became Joseph Anton
The novelist Salman Rushdie has always dreamed large. He’s written stories about how nations come into being; how new ideas come into the world and how the modern world connects to the ancient....
View ArticleMark Helprin: In Sunlight and in Shadow
Mark Helprin has been a scholar, soldier, farmer, commentator, and a speechwriter (unpaid, he insists) for Bob Dole. He’s best known, though, as a writer of great fiction, and his 1983 Winter’s Tale is...
View ArticleMartin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths
Martin McDonagh has made a career writing dark comedies in which blood flows by the gallon, but his own story reads more like a Dickens novel.The son of working-class Irish immigrants in London, he...
View ArticleJames M. Cain, Popular Novelist, Argues to Strengthen Authors' Rights, 1946
Novelist and screenwriter James M. Cain promotes his idea for an American Authors Authority that would treat literature as "property." Though it never caught on at the time, Cain's plan offers insight...
View ArticleJames T. Farrell on a Writer's Inner Life
James T. Farrell, the creator of Studs Lonigan, is often thought of as a crude, dogged, naturalist writer; it's refreshing to hear the author speaking, in this recording from 1952, of what truly...
View ArticleGünter Grass on American Vagaries: Boxing, Dancing, and Creating Art
In May 1965, the Overseas Press Club hosted the German novelist Günter Grass, who had arrived in New York to teach a seminar at Columbia University. The author of The Tin Drum, in what sounds like his...
View ArticleForeign Correspondent David Halberstam Analyzes Conflict in Vietnam
David Halberstam briefs this 1964 meeting of the Overseas Press Club on what he sees as a "sharp conflict" between America's official optimism and the reality experienced by reporters embedded in...
View ArticleBest-Selling Author Ken Follett's Musical Thrillers
Ken Follett is the author of more than a dozen best-selling novels, including "Eye of the Needle," "The Pillars of the Earth" and most recently, "Winter of the World," which entered The New York Times’...
View ArticleThe Challenges And Joys Of Parenting Musical Prodigies
In his new book Far From The Tree, National Book Award-winning author Andrew Solomon addresses the challenges of parenting all types of "exceptional" children, from those born with disabilities to...
View ArticleVladimir Nabokov's Passionate Reading of 'An Evening of Russian Poetry,' 1958
Before the controversy of the American publication of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov cuts a different figure at this 1958 Books and Authors Luncheon.Introduced here as "a distinguished teacher and writer,"...
View ArticleArthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Defends His Account of JFK's Administration
In this speech at a Books and Authors Luncheon in 1965, the former special assistant to the president answers his critics and defends his insider's view of the Kennedy administration. With the tragic...
View ArticleRobert Sherwood Humanizes Wartime Efforts and Urges 'Enduring Peace'
Calling himself a "Broadway wise-cracker and a Hollywood hack," Robert Sherwood, author, soldier, pacifist, and speechwriter, gives a stirring account of his wartime work for the Roosevelt...
View Article'The Birds Fall Down' and More: Rebecca West's Lamentations, 1966
A funereal air hangs over the proceedings at Rebecca West's 1966 Book and Author's Luncheon appearance.The famous novelist, essayist, literary critic, and travel writer devotes much of her talk not to...
View ArticleHerman Wouk Bucks Literary Trends to Produce Best-Selling Novels
Herman Wouk, appearing in this 1955 Books and Authors Luncheon, contests what he perceives as the common view of his being "a conformist." Smarting, perhaps, from the highbrow literary world's disdain...
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For Edmund Morris, Music Is A Superior Language
Edmund Morris is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of landmark biographies of Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. He also wrote a biography of Beethoven, and his latest book, This Living Hand, also...
View ArticleGay Talese: Committed Voyeur
Legendary non-fiction writer, Gay Talese, discusses his marriage, his work, and the scandals that have made waves in both. Get the full story here. Legendary non-fiction writer, Gay Talese, discusses...
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A Karaoke-Soaked Memoir: Rob Sheffield's 'Turn Around Bright Eyes'
In Japanese, the word “karaoke” means “empty orchestra.” Which makes sense -- without someone singing along, all that's left is an empty backing track. It’s only when someone picks up the mic and adds...
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12 Days Of Soundcheck '13: James McBride, 'Standing In The Need Of Prayer'
The Gig Alert is spending the holidays waiting in line at the new Whole Foods in Gowanus, so instead we're bringing you The 12 Days Of Soundcheck! Each weekday, check back for a new, one-day only...
View ArticleFrancine Prose Picks Three; White Hinterland Plays Live; Perfect Pussy On...
In this episode: Author Francine Prose recently released a novel called Lovers At The Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 -- a kaleidoscopic portrait of one very complicated woman's life and those affected by...
View ArticleTerry Teachout on Duke Ellington; Author Amy Tan Picks Three; Matana Roberts...
In this episode: Duke Ellington is one of the towering figures in American music, but there's more to his story than hits like "Take The A Train." Cultural critic and writer Terry Teachout discusses...
View ArticleKurt Vonnegut Talks to the Dead
As part of WNYC's 90th anniversary celebration, Marty Goldensohn, former WNYC news director, shares excerpts from the station's 1998 series "Reports on the Afterlife." It's based on Vonnegut's book God...
View ArticleB.J. Novak Is A Romantic, And Doesn't Think That's A Good Thing
B.J. Novak is best known for his role as Ryan, the ne’er-do-well temp on the NBC comedy The Office. But he’s also a screenwriter, producer, and author of a new book of short stories, One More Thing:...
View ArticleJules Feiffer Goes Noir
Bronx-born Obie, Oscar, and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and playwright and the author/illustrator of Kill My Mother: A Graphic Novel (Liveright, 2014), Jules Feiffer, talks about his new work and...
View ArticleAgent Scully's Sci-Fi
This segment originally aired live on October 8, 2014. An edited version was included in a best-of episode of The Brian Lehrer Show on November 28th. The unedited audio can be found here. Gillian...
View ArticleJonathan Galassi Gets in Touch with His Muse
Once upon a time, the world of book publishing was both more genteel and more glamorous — gentlemanly editors tending the prose of genius authors before adjourning to their martini lunches. The writer...
View ArticleJohn Irving And His Avenue Of Mysteries
Acclaimed author John Irving sits down with Dave Miller in front of an audience at Wordstock to talk about Irving's 14th novel. Acclaimed author John Irving sits down with Dave Miller in front of an...
View ArticleThe Music of Mitch Albom
Click on the audio player above to hear the full interview.Mitch Albom has been a lot of things—a sports reporter, a writer, and a publishing phenomenon with more than 35 million copies of his books in...
View ArticleLaila Lalami
We talk to Moroccan-born novelist Laila Lalami about what it’s like living in America as a Muslim. She’ll be speaking in Portland and Bend as part of Oregon Humanities’ Think and Drink series. We talk...
View ArticleBeverly Cleary's Birthday
We celebrate beloved children’s book author and Oregonian Beverly Cleary on her 100th birthday. We’ll hear clips from an interview with Cleary, and talk to her daughter, Marianne.
View ArticleSendak's 'Magic Flute'
Chris Mattaliano, director of the Portland Opera, tells us about the new production of The Magic Flute, designed by children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak.
View ArticleTiny Houses For Homeless
Andrew Heben spent years researching and even living in places like Dignity Village in Portland to write “Tent City Urbanism,” a guide for cities wanting to build tiny house communities.
View ArticleMary Roach On Her Book Grunt
Best-selling author Mary Roach joins us to talk about her latest book, “Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans At War.”
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Leo Rosten Analyzes Humor
Leo Rosten in 1959(Arthur Rothstein, Baltimore Sun/Wikimedia Commons)"I have no speech. I am not entirely speechless, though," Leo Rosten begins his talk, titled, "On Humor, and What It Is" at this...
View ArticleCity of Weird
Writer and editor Gigi Little joins us to talk about “City of Weird,” a new anthology of “otherworldly Portland tales,” along with two of the short story authors, Rene Denfeld and Dan DeWeese.
View ArticleBrit Bennett on Church, Racism, and Her Novel “The Mothers”
Brit Bennett came to prominence in a way that was unheard of in the literary world a generation ago. She published a piece about racial justice in Jezebel in 2014, and it provoked a huge discussion...
View ArticleCelebrating Shirley Jackson's Haunting Life & Legacy
In honor of Shirley Jackson’s 100th birthday on December 14th, Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, discusses her work and literary legacy, along with Jackson’s grandson,...
View ArticleRoxane Gay's "Difficult Women"
Author and essayist Roxane Gay joins us to talk about feminism, politics, and her new story collection, “Difficult Women.”
View ArticleThe FBI and Its Secrets, Documenting the Rise of the Radical Right, Are Your...
Cora Currier, a journalist at The Intercept, and Trevor Aaronson, executive director of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting and a contributing writer at The Intercept, join us to discuss The...
View ArticleA Cemetery With a View
Yiyun Li grew up in Beijing in the 1970s, a child of Communism. During her year in the Army, she kept a journal hidden under her bed, and at night she would lose herself in American novels. When she...
View ArticleYewande Omotoso’s “The Woman Next Door”
Yewande Omotoso’s new novel, “The Woman Next Door,” explores racial tension in post-apartheid South Africa. It’s about a pair of elderly women — one black and one white — who live in a well-to-do...
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