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Stanley Crouch on 'Reasons of State' May 29, 2020

Show notes

For decades, Stanley Crouch has cut a singular path through American culture. Once an aspiring jazz musician and later a noted cultural critic, he was friends with Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray, and later an intellectual mentor to Wynton Marsalis. For all of his intellectual virtuosity, we were still surprised to discover the book that Crouch wanted to recommend: Alejo Carpentier’s “Reasons of State.”

—This author recommends—

Reasons of State

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Interview: Stanley Crouch on 'The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity'

Chris Ware on 'Society is Nix' May 22, 2020

Show notes

When he’s not drawing, Chris Ware likes to read and look at vintage comics. He highly recommends a book that defies even his powers of description — a folio-sized reproduction of some of America’s first newspaper cartoons, made long before super-heroes and adventure stories took over the medium. Back then, he says, the medium could be anything — and was.

—This author recommends—

Society is Nix: Gleeful Anarchy of the Dawn of the American Comic Strip 1895-1915

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Interview: Chris Ware on his graphic novel 'Building Stories'

Cheryl Strayed on 'Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Torment' May 15, 2020

Show notes

Cheryl Strayed’s "Wild" is one of the most famous wilderness memoirs of our time. She especially appreciates writers who combine honesty with emotional intensity — writers who reveal themselves unflinchingly on the page. She recommends a memoir by the writer Poe Ballantine.

—This author recommends—

Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere: A Memoir

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Interview: Cheryl Strayed on Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

Orhan Pamuk on 'Anna Karenina' May 08, 2020

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The Turkish writer and Nobel laureate says his favorite novel — the 800-plus-page Russian novel bursting with characters living the life of imperial Russian society — is a complex miracle of a book.

—This author recommends—

Anna Karenina

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Interview: Orhan Pamul on 'Snow'—Sonic Sidebar: Orhan Pamuk on The Arabian Nights—Interview: Orhan Pamuk on Fundamentalist Islam—Interview: Why Write? Nobel Prize-Winner Orhan Pamuk Offers His Take—Interview: Istanbul with Orhan Pamuk

Jacqueline Woodson on 'If Beale Street Could Talk' May 01, 2020

Show notes

The author of "Another Brooklyn" recommends a James Baldwin novel she says belongs on everyone's bookshelf.

—This author recommends—
If Beale Street Could Talk (Vintage International)

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Interview: Four Girls Growing Up In 'Another Brooklyn'

Kazuo Ishiguro on 'Prayers for the Stolen' Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

Famed novelist Kazuo Ishiguro recommends “Prayers for the Stolen,” by Jennifer Clement —a harrowing tale about young children who are abducted in the midst of Mexican drug wars.

—This author recommends—
Prayers for the Stolen

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Interview: Kazuo Ishiguro on 'Never Let Me Go'—Interview: Kazuo Ishiguro on 'The Buried Giant'

Ruth Ozeki on 'Kamikaze Diaries' Apr 17, 2020

Show notes

For her own book, author Ruth Ozeki drew from “Kamikaze Diaries,” a collection of writings left behind by the young soldiers who died on suicide missions. They represent a generation of brilliant, highly educated young students who were conscripted into the army and ordered not just to kill but to die.

—This author recommends—

Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers

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Interview: A Diary Becomes A Time Capsule

Petina Gappah on 'Persuasion' Apr 10, 2020

Show notes

Author Petina Gappah recommends a book she explains is “The most African of Jane Austen’s novels.” Her reason why is a look at women in African today told through the eyes of two novelists: a Zimbabwean in 2020 and English woman in 1818.

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Persuasion

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Interview: The Empire Writes Back: Author Discusses Explorer David Livingstone's Complicated Legacy

Karl Ove Knausgaard on 'The Earthsea Trilogy' Apr 03, 2020

Show notes

Given the hyper-realism of author Karl Ove Knausgaard’s "My Struggle," you might be surprised to hear that the formative books of his childhood were filled with magic and imaginary worlds. He says Ursula K. Le Guin’s "Earthsea" fantasy series shaped him as an early reader.

—This author recommends—

Book: The Earthsea Trilogy

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Bookmark: Karl Ove Knausgaard on 'The Flame Alphabet'—Interview: Opening A World — an interview with Karl Ove Knausgaard—Interview: 'This Novel Has Hurt Everyone Around Me': A Frank Conversation with Karl Ove Knausgaard

Ross Gay on 'Gene Smith's Sink' Mar 27, 2020

Show notes

Because he’s fascinated by the process of collecting and by the impulse to document everyday life,
poet Ross Gay recommends “Gene Smith’s Sink,” by Sam Stephenson. It’s a portrait of another collector — the legendary documentarian and photographer, W. Eugene Smith.

—This author recommends—

“Gene Smith’s Sink: A Wide Angle View”

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Interview: 365 Days Of Delight: A Poet's Guide To Finding Joy

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