12-15-11:The Agony Column Live with Lisa Goldstein and Ayize Jama-Everett, and music by Fenyang Smith, December 10, 2011
Karen Joy Fowler (left) joined the discussion with Lisa Goldstein and Ayize Jama-Everett. Click image for audio link of panel conversation.
"... let's look at what happens if people have abilities that other people don't have ..." —Ayize Jama-Everett
Though they write of very different worlds, Lisa Goldstein and Ayize Jama-Everett have a surprisingly similar take in their fiction. They both write stories that effectively create secret worlds where fairytales and the supernatural are real; they create spaces in our world where these surreal and unreal aspects of our lives come out in the open. Our gracious hosts at Capitola Book Café might have a few signed copies left; and in any evet they certainly deserve your business.
Pairing them seemed natural, once I thought about it. Ayize asked me if he could bring a musician to join him; Fenyang Smith, a superbly talented player who helmed his music from a laptop using Logic and an M-AUDIO controller. CBC has a very nice space for musicians behind the writers.
Goldstein started the show with the opening from 'The Uncertain Places,' which I think is easily one of the best this year. Then with, Fenyang to accompany him, AYize read from 'The Liminal People.' I enjoyed this aspect of the show quite a bit and may try to bring in more musicians to back us up.
After that, the discussion began, and with a lot of help from our audience, in particular Karen Joy Fowler, we really dug into these two unique and entertaining novels. I'm podcasting everything today, in three parts.
"...the humor of hard things is what gets us through it." —Peter Orner
Peter Orner could be a character in one of his own books; as he and I get set up in the office at Capitola Book Café, he's full of the same nervous energy that drives this novel. Of course, I find out early on, that to a degree, Orner is a character in his own novel. These stories are based on those from his family, and like his characters, he's always been surrounded by politics.
If Orner were not such a wonderful writer, it would be more of a shame that he didn't follow his inclinations to go into politics. But there is nothing stopping him now, so far as that goes, other than acclaim for his fiction and non-fiction.
Happily, instead of exercising his political inclinations by jumping in the mudbath of politics as it is practiced in the US today, Orner exercises his political enthusiasms editing non-fiction for Dave Eggers Voice of Witness series;
'Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives,' with Luis Alberto Urrea and 'Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives.
Peter Orner's books have a loose fun feel to them and you might imagine that speaking with him is similarly loose and fun; which you can find out by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
12-13-11 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 22: Sue Grafton, 'V is for Vengeance'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the twenty-second episode of my new series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. 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 twenty-second episode is a look at Sue Grafton and her new book, 'V is for Vengeance'.
Harper's Magazine, being one of the last bastions of reasonable thought and a monthly publication well worth your valuable reading time, has a new article by no less than Thomas Frank, asking for the unthinkable: "More Government, Please!"
It's been a fascinating few years on the American political and economic landscape, and rather mind-boggling, to tell the truth. We're in the midst of what we like to call an "economic downturn," which is to say, a global economic catastrophe that is likely to make the Great Depression look like Happy Valley. I've been betting on the barrels as a fashion trend for a while now.
In his latest article for Harper's, Thomas Frank thinks the unthinkable, asking for more government and suggesting that we look at re-creating the successful programs that helped pull the nation out of the Great Depression. These are unfashionable thoughts in these days when the loudest shouters are loudly shouting for even less regulation in an economic downturn (read: "catastrophe") caused by deregulation. Happily, Thomas Frank is not so quick to damn logic as those who seek to be the boss of you.
"...we're out of control, and we're a nation built on giant lies."
—David Vann
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure where I interviewed David Vann. I could probably get to the location again, a lovely suburban house in Fremont, but beyond that; I don't know. I don't know what the meaning of that house was, so to speak, and that's indicative of the intensity of our conversation.
I want to tell readers straight up that this interview is going to anger some of you, terrify most of you and rivet the attention of anyone who starts listening. The experience was like getting in a bullet train, no egress till the end. I'd spoken with David before, and he was perfectly at ease with me, and so we engaged in one of the most unforgettable conversations I will ever have.
I do want to caution listeners who might be sensitive. While we don't talk about any violence beyond the shootings themselves, the level of intensity here is such that some will want to approach this with caution. This is a conversation that examines the darkest aspects of our nation and our culture. I suspect that many will disagree with some of the conclusions Vann reaches. But I think it is important to have those thoughts aired, to get them out in the open so that we can look at them. The author makes admissions that are startling.
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]
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..."
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 : 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
