07-10-09: Alan Cheuse on Writing the Textbook : Poetry (Genre, Non-Fiction, Critical Studies, Poetry)
This is the podcast in which a barking dog plays an integral part. I suppose that comes as less of a surprise given that we were talking about poetry, but yes, sometimes having the dog actually helps matters. Today, Alan Cheuse and I talk about his work on the vlume of poetry and his process of collaboration with Nicholas Delbanco.
When it comes to collaboration, working on a textbook is a rather daunting task. Cheuse and Delbanco spent five and half years putting these three books together, and they worked fast according to industry standards. Cheuse told me how they collaborated and how they divided the duties, which became quite important when it comes to dealing with the huge number of works they had to sift through and choose. As well, there quite a bit more work involved in this one than in the fiction, again due to the sheer number of poems covered. Cheuse read a number of the best selections, some famous, some merely great. You can hear a huge chunk of poetry, criticism and talk about the craft of putting together textbooks by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
Jeff Sharlet
07-09-09: A 2009 Interview with Jeff Sharlet : Secular Twilight
It's not really about theocracy, so much as it is about power. That's what's so shocking about 'The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.' Of course, given the names of the folks who are deep in The Family — let me mention John of Nevada and Mark Sanford of South Carolina — it's clearly not about what is generally thought of as a "fundamentalist Christian" lifestyle. But Jeff Sharlet has a perfect grasp on this wildly powerful but seriously under-reported organization.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Jeff Sharlet for KUSP's Talk of the Bay on Sunday, July 5, an appropriate enough day, following the celebration, as it were of our independence from a country where the state imposed a religion on the populace. But religion has many uses, especially for the powerful, who find it a fine way of controlling the masses. But as Sharlet and I discussed, The Family has a very different approach, a "trickle down" theory of imposed power. But the people they put in the company of Jesus, including Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Lenin are not usually thought of in a Christian context. Sharlet and I had a grand time talking about this truly mind-boggling book. Once you recognize that the end has come and gone, you can begin to do something about; start by reading Jeff Sharlet's book and listening to him via this link to the MP3 audio file.
07-08-09: Agony Column News Report : Lou Anders in Conversation on SF, Games, and the Fate of Storytelling
You know, it's pretty amazing what Lou Anders has accomplished in such a short time. Take a look at one example from Pyr, 'Fast Forward 2.' These are some pretty amazing stats: 2 Hugo nominations, 2 Sturgeon nominations, 2 Locus Award nominations, PKD nom for the whole anthology, Chesley nom for the cover, and 4 stories reprinted 5 times in 4 Year's Bests.
So clearly, here's a man who knows a story when he one comes round to bite him. Here, as well, is a man who knows science fiction, from the front cover (all hail John Picacio!) to the final page of acknowledgements. And clearly, Lou's got an idea about what's happening with science fiction as the ghetto dissolves and a non-trivial number of readers, writers and hangers-on lament the death of the ghetto. And what of storytelling in the ultra-rich environments of video games and MMPORPG? Can we expect anything worthwhile of from James Cameron's Avatari? I mean Avatar. Well, Lou and I started out at A and ended up somewhere around K. Not surprising, but we'll be back next week with another linked MP3 audio file.
Laurie R. King
07-07-09: Laurie R. King : Cities of Mystery
So you think you want to invent a city and set a novel there? Let's presume you've decided to write a mystery. Then here's Laurie R. King, to help you understand the basics of how cities work as foreground, background and killing grounds in contemporary mystery novels.
When I needed to know something about cities in the mystery genre, it was an easy guess as to where I would go to find out. Laurie R. King combines an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre with an engaging style and answers my questions about how one might go about fabricating the perfect setting for an imperfect crime; well, aren't they all? Only those we haven’t heard about might be prefect, and they're simply mythical, so pull up a chair and enjoy Laurie R. King on cities and mystery by following this link to an MP3 audio file.
David Sedaris
07-06-09: A 2009 Interview with David Sedaris : 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames'
"Sometimes your life just feels like a story" — David Sedaris
This time around, I had managed to at least make the appointment, though not without a significant effort on my part. There were the time and day changes that had me reeling. Did I have be ready then or then? Would I interview him at the Café (no he gets caught up signing, and it's a distraction) or at KUSP (alas the schedule changed) or a hotel room, no, we'll do KQED. By the time I got there I half-expected him to be flanked by Rayban-clad unsmiling Secret Service agents. I could see myself, sitting in the studio, conducting the interview with a red laser dot on my forehead. "David, about your efforts to quit smoking — " "I'm sorry, Mr. Kleffel, this interview is terminated," would be the first words I'd hear one of them say and the last words I'd hear on this earth.
Suffice it to say my fears were unfounded, at least so far as the agents and laser dot went. I'm sorta disappointed, but he still has time to run for President of the United States, and wouldn't that be a hoot? That said, you can hear our conversation about his new book by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
New to the Agony Column
09-07-10: Commentary : Mario Guslandi Reviews 'Dark Faith' : ".. beneath the gore, the violence of horror, there is often a spiritual undercurrent that remains unexplored."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Two Books With Alan Cheuse : 'Freedom' by Jonathan Franzen and 'The Fall' by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
09-06-10: Commentary : Brendan Connell Tells 'Unpleasant Tales' : Close-up and Too Close-up
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Guy Gavriel Kay : "I'm telling myself you bloody well better figure out where this is going because you have to start heading there sometime around now."
09-03-10: Commentary : The Eternal Youth of 'Madame Bovary' : "To be simple is no small matter."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Bruckner Chase at Blue Ocean Film Festival : "...a breath to your right and look at the moonset over the Pacific, and a breath to your left and see the sun rise over the mountains..."
09-02-10: Commentary : Collecting Philip K. Dick : The Books That Launched A Thousand Films
08-30-10: Commentary : David Doubilet Captures 'Water Time Light' : Painting with Pixels
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview With David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes : "Everything people have always feared about photography comes true underwater."
08-25-10: Commentary : Vendela Vida 'The Lovers' : Reading and Revelation
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A Live Reading and Interview with Vendela Vida At Bookshop Santa Cruz : "...there was an owl that came into this place we were renting one day..."
08-24-10: Commentary : Jeff VanderMeer and 'The Third Bear' : Absurd Is as Absurd Does
08-20-10: Commentary : Joe R. Lansdale Takes 'Deadman's Road' : Deader Than Thou
Agony Column Podcast News Report : On the Phone with Vendela Vida : "You do all this background information, most of which never makes it into the book."
08-19-10: Commentary : Gary Shteyngart Tells a 'Super Sad True Love Story' : Retro-Prescience
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Gary Shteyngart Live Reading and Interview at Bookshop Santa Cruz : "...please like me, this will make up for Hebrew school if all of you like me.."
08-18-10: Commentary : Mark Pilkington Unleashes Weapons of Mass Deception : "ECM+CIA=UFO"
Agony Column Podcast News Report : David Corbett and Barry Eisler for The Agony Column Live at Capitola Book Café, August 7, 2010 Q and A : "This is NewSpeak."
08-16-10: Commentary : Howard Norman Asks 'What is Left the Daughter' : The Past Always Rises
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Howard Norman : "I'd wanted to write from the beginning an epistolary novel; this is just an epistolary novel that's consisting of one letter."
08-12-10: Commentary : James O'Neal Copies 'The Double Human' : Proceeding into the Future
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Barry Eisler and David Corbett Live at Capitola Book Café on August 7, 2010 : "If anyone thinks it's absurd that the government might assassinate the founder of WikiLeaks, it's quite a bit less absurd than I wish it were".... — Barry Eisler
08-11-10: Commentary : Joe R. Lansdale Takes Huck Finn to 'Dread Island' : "Classics Mutilated"
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Barry Eisler Reads at The Agony Column Live on August 7, 2010 : "...they'll pick up that angle and run interference for us..."
08-10-10: Commentary : David Corbett Asks 'Do They Know I'm Running?' : Crossing Borders
Agony Column Podcast News Report : David Corbett Reads at The Agony Column Live on August 7, 2010 : "These Families are making incredible sacrifices..."
08-09-10: Commentary : David Mitchell and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet : The World is Ever the World
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with David Mitchell : "The periodic table of the human heart is still the same now as it was then."
08-06-10: Commentary : Tim Powers Sails 'On Stranger Tides' : History, Fantasy and the Reality of Reading
08-03-10: Commentary : Robert M. Price Spins 'The Tindalos Cycle' : Terrorize, Horrify, Repeat
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A Short Chat with Gary Shteyngart : "...the technology is outpacing our ability to absorb what it is doing to us..."
08-02-10: Commentary : A Second Tour Through 'The Passage' : Sending Characters into Time
07-30-10: Commentary : Subterranean Press and Robert R. McCammon Wake at 'The Wolf's Hour' : The Time Before Cheese
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Three Books with Alan Cheuse : Allegra Goodman, 'The Cookbook Collector,' Noam Shpancer's 'The Good Psychologist' and Elie Wiesel 'The Sonderberg Case'
07-28-10: Commentary : Rule Britannia, In Space 2 : En Route, RJ Frith and Peter F. Hamilton
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Brian and Wendy Froud at SF in SF on Monday, July 19, 2010: Q & A : "The people you deal with at the publishers ... if they last the end of the week, you're lucky."
07-27-10: Commentary : Rule Britannia, In Space : UK Space Opera Demonstrates Excess is Not Enough (Part one, the Arrived)
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Brian and Wendy Froud at SF in SF on Monday, July 19, 2010 : "Well, I thought if I do faeries then nobody's going to say that I've got it wrong."
07-26-10: Commentary : Brian and Wendy Froud Seek 'The Heart of Faerie Oracle' : Cards, Books and a New Perspective
