Bookworm's Library for July:
Extraordinary New Books by California-based Writers
A must for the serious reader, Bookworm showcases writers of fiction and poetry - the established, new or emerging - all interviewed with insight and precision by the show's host and guiding spirit, Michael Silverblatt.
Fall of Frost (Viking)
Brian Hall takes on a fictional life of
our great Robert Frost, giving language to the poet's inner life.
Firefly under the Tongue: Selected Poems (New Directions)
Coral Bracho, a major Mexican poet, writes ecstatic visionary
poetry that has been translated into English for the first time. Our
program marks another first—she has never before agreed to an
interview...
Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories (Knopf)
Tobias Wolff has re-written his famous stories many times—even
after they've been published...
All the Sad Young Literary Men (Viking)
Keith Gessen, one of the founding editors of the hip,
intellectual journal n+1, has written his first novel. It's about the
struggles of young people to break into the world of their aspirations,
in this case, the literary intelligentsia of New York City...
Sway (Little, Brown)
Zachary Lazar's novel is about the Rolling Stones, Charles Manson, Kenneth Anger and the dark side of the Sixties. In this conversation, we try to gauge how much "sympathy for the devil" the era generated—from sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll to satanic ritual murders.
Lush Life (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
This high-voltage interview with Richard Price (he spiels, riffs, and shoots off sparks) gives a rare insight into the way he orchestrates the complex of simultaneous perception in his writing. He proceeds with a strong sense of dread—ready for an attack from any and every direction.
The Sum of Our Days (Harper)
Isabel Allende's second memoir is written to Paula, her daughter who died, telling the history of their family since her death. Allende tells stories naturally, and here we discuss storytelling as a form of memory, a way of preserving the present.
An Alchemist with One Eye on Fire (Black Widow Press)
When The Bookworm explains that reading Eshleman's intense and visceral work brings up initial feelings of disgust, Eschleman responds that his poetry is a matter of initiation and transformation.
Declension in the Village of Chung Luong (Ausable Press) and Brian Turner Here, Bullet (Alice James Books)
Bruce Weigl is a poet who served in Vietnam. Brian Turner wrote poetry while serving in Iraq. Theirs is the poetry of war as written by on-site observers.
The thing about life is that one day you’ll be dead (Knopf)
David Shields wrote this book to relieve his terrible fear of death. He compares this fear with his ninety-something-year-old father's vigor and confidence. Although the book is full of facts about aging and death, it has the odd effect of making you feel thrilled to be alive.
Girl Factory (Tin House)
In Jim Krusoe's strange and funny new novel, six women are being preserved in acidophilus in the basement of a frozen yogurt shop. The innocent hero's attempts to save these kidnapped beauties are disastrous.
His Illegal Self (Knopf)
The excitement of Peter Carey's new novel is rendered through a
specific stylistic choice: He integrates two wildly different voices
into the sentences, creating a vibrant stereo-effect. The result is
amazing--the novel's action seems to be taking place about six inches
from your face.
Coeur de Lion (Mal-o-mar); The Cow (Fence Books)
This astonishing young poet—still in her twenties—is surely destined to be one of the crucial voices of her generation.
Mothers and Sons: Stories (Scribner)
Colm Tóibín candidly describes the inspirations for the stories in his first collection. Sometimes a landscape is enough to trigger a story, sometimes an anecdote or a bit of family lore.
The Gathering (Grove)
In Anne Enright's Booker Prize-winning novel about a family wake, the narrator remembers, lies, invents and imagines with equal ardor.
The Jewish Messiah (Penguin)
Unsettling, profane and goofy, Arnon Grunberg’s novel takes politically incorrect risks with contemporary Jewish culture.
Riding Toward Everywhere (Ecco)
William Vollman decided to spend as much time as possible viewing the stars from the flatbed of a moving train. He’s a “fauxbo” not a hobo, and he movingly describes his need to find freedom by hopping a train–without any destination in mind.
Swimming in a Sea of Death: A Son's Memoir (Simon & Schuster)
David Rieff accompanied his mother, Susan Sontag, through the medical ordeals that led to her death. We explore the death of this great writer, a woman who resisted consolation and maintained—to her last days—an enormous appetite for life.
Bookworm Michael Silverblatt is the guy authors go to when they want a serious literary conversation about their writing, because Michael reads everything they’ve ever written, often surprising the authors with insights about their work that they themselves hadn’t realized.
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A CD copy of Bookworm is available by calling 888-600-5279.
Transcripts of Bookworm are not available.
Click the Full Details link to read an excerpt from the featured book.
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