One of the things about doing a lot of recording is that you find archives that have not been released, some of them jaw-droppingly good. Consider this: Lisa Goldstein reading at SF in SF, with part of her reading consisting of "The Bondmaid's Tale."
I recorded this back in June, and though I had podcasted it because I have broadcasted part of it, The Bondmaid's Tale, and I'll probably do so again, because it is that good.
10-19-11:A 2011 Interview with Lisa Goldstein at SF in SF
"I couldn't put it down, I had to finish it."
—Lisa Goldstein
Confession time: Lisa actually thanks me in the Acknowledgements for 'The Uncertain Places' for what to my mind is as close to proof of the supernatural as you are going to get in this world. Back in June of 2009, I hosted a panel at SF in SF so the indefatigable Terry Bisson could catch a break. Pat Murphy, Lisa Goldstein, and Michaela Roessner were the guests, and in the break, I was chatting with Goldstein who told me a bit about what would become 'The Uncertain Places.'
There was just one thing that she needed to know more about; winery history in Northern California. Just a couple of days before, Janet over at Capitola Book Café had asked if I wanted to interview Vivienne Sosnowski, who had a new book out that definitely seemed worth my valuable reading time titled, 'When the Rivers Ran Red: An Amazing Story of Courage and Triumph in America's Wine Country.' Unfortunately, it was happening during the time when I hosted my show on KUSP. But these things happen for a reason.
10-18-11 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 14: Lisa Randall, 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'
Here's the fourteenth 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.
"They are in a sense, permanently marked and thrown into this darkness..."
—Russell Banks
Russell Banks has an air about him that is difficult at first to pin down. He's friendly, yes, and smart, yes, but that's not it, not entirely. After a while, though, it dawns on me. Banks exudes sympathy, a kind of no-nonsense clarity of vision that lets you reveal who you are while he observes everything, takes in everything. It's just what he needs to write about the characters who drive his novels.
I met with Banks upstairs at Bookshop Santa Cruz, and managed to find a much nicer setup for us to talk. Rather than using the couch, I wrangled some big puffy chairs around the corner of a desk and put my mic on the desk. It worked out to make me, at least, much more at ease, since I did not need to worry about mic stability.
Banks is a fascinating writer who understands his own writing process well. He talked about the origins of this story, which unfolded outside of his own window, and about his decision to ratchet the narrative into the almost dreamlike state he achieves. But these are waking dreams inspired by our own inability to ever truly know another person until we see from their eyes. The means we have to do this is reading, which moves us two steps away from life, but somehow infinitely closer. Readers can get closer to this interview by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
New to the Agony Column
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05-15-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War' : Impure Life
05-08-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat' : Reading in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Mark Sundeen : "...over the years, I had heard through my friends that he had stopped using money and was living in a cave..."
04-30-12: Commentary : Christopher Moore Follows 'Sacré Bleu' : A Story in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Christopher Moore : "...it often isn't efficient to tell a story in chronological order..."
04-27-12: Commentary : Lisa Lutz on 'Trail of the Spellmans' : Meta-Fiction is Fun
Agony Column Podcast News Report: SF in SF from February 11, 2012 : Panel Discussion Moderated by Terry Bisson and Interviews with Rudy Rucker, K. W. Jeter, and Jay Lake
04-26-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Emmanuel Carrere 'The Adversary' : The Enemy Within
04-23-12: Commentary : T. M. Luhrman Listens 'When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God' : Science and the Supernaturaly
04-18-12: Commentary : Gregg Jones Stirs Through 'Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dreams' : A Dream Of Today From Yesterday
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Gregg Jones : "The Philippinos would welcome us with open arms and greet us as liberators."
04-17-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Caleb Carr 'The Alienist' : Subterranean History
04-16-12: Commentary : Richard Zacks Visits 'Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York' :The Wild, Wild East
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Richard Zacks : "Roosevelt and Riis were out looking, and if they did find a cop, he was talking to a streetwalker."
