Escaping the Cage: Identity, Multiculturalism and Writing

Host:

Michael Silverblatt

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Russell Banks, Susan Sontag, Maya Angelou, Camille Paglia, Stephen Greenblatt, Tom Wolfe and David Mitchell

In the first of this 10-part series, Escaping the Cage: Identity, Multiculturalism and Writing, we sample the range of attitudes toward identity, identity politics and multiculturalism. Among the highlights: Maya Angelou describes an emotional encounter with Tupac Shakur, Susan Sontag rejects self-expression as a writing goal, and Camille Paglia embraces multiculturalism while scolding academics for losing literature in a welter of special interests.

You can also read excerpts from:

David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas
Russell Banks' The Darling
Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Camille Paglia's Break, Blow, Burn
Susan Sontag's Where the Stress Falls
Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons

Guests:

Russell Banks: author, 'The Darling'
Maya Angelou: author, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'
Susan Sontag: author, 'Where the Stress Falls'
David Mitchell: author, 'Cloud Atlas'
Camille Paglia: author, 'Break, Blow, Burn'
Tom Wolfe: author, 'I Am Charlotte Simmons'
Stephen Greenblatt: literary critic

An audio copy of an individual broadcast is available for $15.00. Copies of additional broadcasts, ordered at the same time, are $10.00 each. Send request with check (made payable to Bookworm) to: Bookworm c/o KCRW, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405. Or call for a complete catalog. (310) 450-5183.

Transcripts of Bookworm are not available.

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