06-15-14 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 166: Geoff Dyer, 'Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred sixty-sixth episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two(three[?])-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'm way behind, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to get back up and stumbling. I have lots of great books in the hopper to review and lots of great interviews to podcast.
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.
I've been speaking with Colson Whitehead since 2003. That's a long time, I realize, but it always seems fresh and fun, because all the books have been very different, including his latest, 'The Noble Hustle.' Each time I think Whitehead has reached a new 'Apex,' this 'Colossus' of talent has followed 'The Intuitionist' within to find new 'Harbor' for his creativity.
I must admit that I wish I was a bit more ahead of the game, as I sometimes come to an understanding about a book as I write the review. In this case, the bit about the science fiction novel seems pretty right-on as regards to the atmosphere 'The Noble Hustle' creates. Think John Brunner, Philip K. Dick, Norman Spinrad, Roger Zelazny or Thomas M. Disch writing about the Las Vegas they might expect forty years hence from the year 1974.
Colson and I talked about the circumstances of his gig, from his initial disinterest to his full investment, when he took on a sensei and a personal trainer. For me, chats with colson are more like visits to see what he's into this time around because he has the sort of restless mind tht never lets him stick with one schtick.
The problem is that we're not likely to see a Zone Two or Winthrop trying to sell his clients on the virtues, no the NECESSITY, of creating a "virtual community" of "fans" who will "be there" on social media sites in Apex Deletes The Tweet. And anyway, Colson has his own morose Twitter feed, wise to follow if you feel the world has already arrived in a handy handbasket in the infernal infirmary.
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
