Book Book Book Book
Commentary Commentary RSS Reviews Podcasts_Audio Podcasts RSS Blog Links Archives Indexes

01-03-15: Audio Book Review: Rebecca Lloyd, Mercy and Other Stories

Click image for audio link.

"Our knives and monsters are ever ready, and as real as we need them to be."

Here's my second audio book review, as my radio station is considering airing them as stand-alone pieces. To encourage them, go to KUSP.org and contact them.

For your on-the-go listening pleasure, then, here is my audio review of Rebecca Lloyd's excellent 'Mercy and Other Stories.' [Written review contains additional material.] Prepare to toss out your preconceptions (if you have them) as to what to expect from Tartarus Press, beyond great quality. Yes, the book has the same wonderful craftsmanship as all the titles from this publisher. But the content comes from a new and very individual voice.

Lloyd's work is considerably different than most other writers who work with or at the boundaries of genre fiction. She has a bit of Angela Carter and Ruth Rendell in her, while still being very much a genre unto herself.

Follow this link into the human mind in all its inhumanity and my audio review of 'Mercy and Other Stories' by Rebecca Lloyd.




12-29-14: A 2014 Interview with Kathy Freston

Click image for audio link.
...visualize how you'd like your life to look..."
—Kathy Freston

"NOT in a magical thinking sort of way," Kathy Freston is quick to add. And this is one of her many appeals as a writer. Freston, the author of 'Quantum Wellness' and 'The Lean,' takes a low-key approach to the world of self-improvement. She's not about wrenching your life in this direction, or that one. (Though she'd like you to consider being vegan.) That said, everything about Kathy Freston is refreshingly pragmatic.

Well, except when you are sitting at the simply amazing kitchen table in her simply amazing house. Freston tells you, lightly, in her books, that she was once a chain-smoking model. The model part – you'd totally get that. But it's hard to believe that she's ever been much less than perfect. I'll take her word on that. When she starts quoting Socrates, and then citing studies from Cornell University, it all gets pretty surreal.

That said, Freston got where she is and stays there through a both-feet-on-the-ground approach, and that is her appeal. She's not asking you to change everything in your life. She's thinking maybe you can change one thing, a small thing, one day at a time. She's a smart, centered speaker, and I imagine her tours must do well.

Writers in this genre are not my normal remit, but, to my mind, it's healthy (if not infectious!) to jump lanes from one outlook and mood to another. Freston takes her work but not her self seriously, and she has a lot of good ideas. She speaks about them clearly and knows the proper level of detail to accord to anyone subject. She's vegan, but allows that she has in the past loved BBQ pork. (I'm a fan of the Central Texas BBQ in Castroville, CA.) Her thoughts about food sourcing are arguably ahead of their time.

Now, nothing can compare with the actual experience of sitting in that kitchen. But there is a lot to be learned by following this link to the MP3 audio file of our in-depth interview.




12-29-14 UPDATE: Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 188: Kathy Freston

Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred eighty-eighth episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. these days I actually sort of perform them with the writers as a "lightning round" (thanks David Rich!) after the longer interview.

I try to keep these lighning round interviews 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 one-hundred eighty-eighth episode is a look at Kathy Freston's books 'Quantum Wellness,' 'Veganist' and 'The Lean.'

Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 188: Kathy Freston, 'Quantum Wellness,' 'Veganist' and 'The Lean'.



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..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 213: Susan Casey : Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins

08-24-15: Commentary : Felicia Day Knows 'You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)' : Transformative Technology

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Felicia Day : "I think you have to be attention curators for audience in every way."

08-22-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 212: Felicia Day : You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

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]

08-10-15:Agony Column Podcast News Report : In Memory of Alan Cheuse : Thank you Alan, and Your Family, for Everything

07-11-15: Commentary : Robert Repino Morphs 'Mort(e)' : Housecat to Harbinger of the Apocalypse

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Robert Repino : "...an even bigger threat. which is us, the humans..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Robert Repino : Mort(e)

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..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Michael Gazzaniga : Tales from Both Sides of the Brain: A Life in Neuroscience

06-26-15: Commentary : Neal Stephenson Crafts an Eden for 'Seveneves' : Blow It Up and Start All Over Again

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Neal Stephenson : "...and know that you're never going to se a tree again..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 207: Neal Stephenson : Seveneves

06-03-15: Commentary : Dan Simmons Opens 'The Fifth Heart' : Having it Every Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Dan Simmons : "...yes, they really did bring those bombs..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 206: Dan Simmons : The Fifth Heart

05-23-15: Commentary : John Waters Gets 'Carsick' : Going His Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with John Waters : "...you change how you would be in real life...”

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 205: John Waters : Carsick

05-09-15: Commentary : Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD and 'Shrinks' : A Most Fashionable Take on the Human Mind

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : "..its influence to be as hegemonic as it was..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 204: Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

04-29-15: Commentary : Barney Frank is 'Frank' : Interpersonally Ours

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Barney Frank : "...while you're trying to change it, don't ignore it..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 203: Barney Frank : Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage

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 UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 202: Kazuo Ishiguro : The Buried Giant

04-17-15: Commentary : Erik Larson Follows a 'Dead Wake' : Countdown to Destiny

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Erik Larson : "...said to have been found in the arms of a dead German sailor..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 201: Erik Larson : Dead Wake

04-15-15: Commentary : Peter Bell Reflects 'A Certain Slant of Light' : Strange Stories of Modern Scholars

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Peter Bell : "...I looked up some of the old books..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 200: Peter Bell : Strange Epiphanies and A Certain Slant of Light

03-14-15: Commentary : Marc Goodman Foresees 'Future Crimes' : Exponential Potential

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

Commentary & Podcast Archive
Archives Indexes How to use the Agony Column Contact Us About Us