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05-15-09 :
Agony Column Podcast News Report :
Three Books With Alan Cheuse :
Sonata Mulattica
by Rita Dove
Shannon A Poem of the Lewis Clark Expedition
by Campbell McGrath
The Song is You
by Arthur Phillips
Once again, I'm honored to be joined by Alan Cheuse as we take another look at three books worth your valuable time and money. This time, we're heading over to the poetry section, to examine two unusual books of poetry by Rita Dove and Campbell McGrath. Then, just to keep things lively, we look at the latest novel by Arthur Phillips, 'The Song is You,' an actual song that I have tucked away somewhere on one of my Stan Getz records. Yes, vinyl records.
Music runs through the selections for today's Three Books conversation. Rita Dove's 'Sonata Mulattica' poetry collection is a historical narrative about George Polgreen Hightower, a wunderkind musical genius, the son of a white European woman and an "African Prince" who travels from London to Vienna to meet Ludwig Van Beethoven, who had written a sonata to honor him — until they met. Campbell McGrath's 'Shannon', is a 100 page narrative poem about George Shannon, the 16 year old boy who was separated from the Lewis and Clark Expedition and wandered alone on the prairie for 16 days is written in vivid, musical prose. And Arthur Phillips, 'The Song is You' is the first great American iPod novel, and offers an usual celebration of the sorts of technology that are usually shown as alienating factors in our lives. You can hear Alan and I discuss these books by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
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05-14-09 :
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Neal Coonerty on the Live Oak Redevelopment Project
I've been wanting to interview Neal Coonerty for a long time, but to tell the truth, I've been sort of scared, intimidated. After all, he's man behind the legendary Bookshop Santa Cruz, a past President of the American Booksellers' Association, and is currently the Third District Supervisor for Santa Cruz County. I've left a lot of stuff out, I'm sure. But you get the picture. He's not just a legend, he's a local legend.
Fortunately for me, life made it easy. Here I am, innocently hosting Talk of the Bay and answering requests from John Leopold the ever-able Supervisor for Live Oak to talk about Redevelopment, and, alas, the date of my show, Supervisor Leopold can't make it; but Supervisor Coonerty can. So, I find myself forced to something I've been heretofore afraid to do and not surprisingly, it turned out swell. It's all on the guest, I'll tell you. I just ask the questions, and you can hear how Coonerty displays a politician's skills without sounding like a politician by following the link to this MP3 Audio File.
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05-13-09 :
Agony Column Podcast News Report : The Mountain Community Theater Serves 'Breakfast of Champions' : The Author's Voice
When I think of works that lend themselves to adaptation, I have to admit that Kurt Vonnegut's anarchic 'Breakfast of Champions' is probably near the end of the line. It's a novel to end novels, a work that steps all over the form in a manner you might not think conducive to adaptation.
Apparently, in the 1980's, one Robert Egan decided to adapt Vonnegut's novel for the stage, and now our local Repertory Company, Mountain Community Theater , has decided to take on the task of mounting a performance. Wearing my "Talk of the Bay" hat, I interviewed the director, Steve Brenner, along with Denny Vierra, who plays the Author, and Adrienne Bischoff who plays about ten characters as part of "The Ensemble." For me, 'Breakfast of Champions' is a seminal novel that has really shaped my thinking and perspective on the world. But it's also only barely a novel as we normally know it, and it was fascinating to hear the director and cast discuss the challenges of getting Vonnegut's vision across. You can hear our action-packed conversation by following this link to the MP3 file.
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05-12-09 :
A 2009 Interview With Ginjer Buchanan: Ace Editor
Here's how things happen at The Agony Column. So, I'm trying to find out who the publicist is for the new Stephen Baxter novel, 'Flood.' A colleague at NPR wanted a copy. I know the publisher Penguin, so I gave them a ring.
I was quickly sent into voicemail and managed to climb to that branch of the phone tree where I could "Dial by name." Who did I know there I asked myself, racking my brain. Then I remembered Ginjer Buchanan, arguably The Most Important Person In SF; the senior editor at Ace Books, the woman responsible for much of our best genre fiction, and as a general notion, helping to keep the damn thing alive. She'd know who to talk to.
She did in fact know how to talk to, but then it occurred to me that she w2as the one to talk to. In these dark days for the publishing world, when editorial and publicity staff fall by the wayside, she'd know the scoop. And indeed, you can find the scoop by following this link to the MP3 audio file of our conversation.
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05-11-09 :
A 2009 Interview with Sarah Waters : "Something very malign"
Sarah Waters builds her novels as she might build a house; first the framework, then the layers and layers of details, the tiny muscles that move the plot. When I talked to her at KQED about her latest novel, "The Little Stranger," she emphasized the architectural nature of her writing process, saying that sometimes she had to rip down an entire wing and move it elsewhere.
Waters is an engaging and entertaining speaker. She talked to me about her writing process, which she explains involves mostly re-writing, and about her research into the psychic leaders of the day, particularly the work of Frederic Meyers. Meyers is an interesting guy, who hypothesized that in moments of stress, people can split off portions of their personality that can manifest as psychic phenomena. This sort of detail carries throughout the work, and Waters talked about researching the journals of James Lees-Milne to get a feel for the country houses. You can hear our conversation by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
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