11-01-13 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 131: Bill Bryson, 'One Summer: America, 1927'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred thirty-first episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I seem to be on top opf the game, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to stay back up and stumbling.
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.
"There isn't a general agreement about what normal and good is."
— Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood has a habit of sending verbal arrows to the heart of a matter. 'MaddAddam' is an arrow in the heart the Apocalypse, what led to it, and what follows. As we sit down to talk about her latest work, I want to keep one foot in the future while I remember that her work is firmly rooted in the present.
For me, one of the great joys of 'MaddAddam' is Atwood's re-invention of the English language, again and again. She plays with stories, stories within stories, she creates her own language and revises current words to fit her vision of the future. We spent quite a while talking about words.
I also have to admit that Atwood really nailed for me, the joys of raunchy bad language, of cursing up a blue streak. 'MaddAddam' shows a real insight into the way men think, and in its satiric excess, Atwood strikes a vein of humor that made the book a constant joy to read. How an author often described as "feminist" managed this is great fun to discover.
And discovery is pretty much what any conversation with Margaret Atwood is all about. When I sit down to talk with her, I find it incredibly helpful to discard all my preconceptions and eliminate my expectations. I'm never totally successful, but I do manage to get a good start, and being surprised is the best part of the conversation. And, alas, we didn't have time for intestinal parasites, a favorite aspect of the book that may go under-reported, as not everyone finds them as fascinating Margaret Atwood and I.
One of the great aspects of talking to Margaret Atwood is that you really cannot ask her a question and get an "expected" answer. Read her fiction and you'll find the same effect. To hear Margaret Atwood give unexpected answers to my questions, follow this link to the MP3 audio file.
New to the Agony Column
09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
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
