Bookmarks

Latest Episodes:

Margaret Atwood on 'Wide Sargasso Sea' Dec 20, 2019

Show notes

Jean Rhys takes up a "mad" wife’s story in "Wide Sargasso Sea," an overlooked novel recommended by
"Handmaid’s Tale" author Margaret Atwood.

—This author recommends—
Wide Sargasso Sea

—More from this author

—Interview: Margaret Atwood Blends Dystopia and Social Satire

—Interview: 'Handmaid’s Tale' Author Margaret Atwood on the Roots of Dystopia

Lorrie Moore on 'Carried Away' Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

Writer Lorrie Moore says Alice Munro’s book of short stories, "Carried Away," shows mastery of
the architecture of the short story that is both brilliant and can’t be
imitated.

—This author recommends—

Carried Away: A Selection of Stories (Everyman's Library)

—More from this author—

Interview: Lorrie Moore's Bark Stories

Werner Herzog on 'The Peregrine' Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Filmmaker Werner Herzog, whose films include "Grizzly Man" and "Cave of the Forgotten Dreams," recommends a nonfiction collection of J.A. Baker's observations of peregrine falcons, recorded in the early 1960s.

—This author recommends—

The Peregrine (New York Review Books Classics)

—More from this author—

Interview: Why Werner Herzog Is Awe-Struck

Martin Amis on 'The Adventures of Augie March' Nov 29, 2019

Show notes

Martin Amis has written his fair share of novels and essay collections. For a writer, you expect their favorite books to be a source of inspiration. For Amis, Saul Bellow's 1953 novel is a source of writer's block.

—This author recommends—

The Adventures of Augie March (Penguin Classics)

—More from this author—

Interview: When Should An Author Call It Quits?

Jericho Brown on 'The Witches of Eastwick' Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

As a black, gay poet, Jericho Brown considers it “hilarious” that he discovered sex through one of the whitest writers in American history — John Updike.

—This author recommends—

The Witches of Eastwick

—More from this author—

Interview: Can A Poem Be A Kind Of Prayer?

Alice Walker on 'Disturbing The Peace' Nov 15, 2019

Show notes

Alice Walker recommends Richard Yates' novel following an advertising executive whose seemingly successful life quietly fractures under the pressure of mundanity, alcoholism, anger, and recklessness. She says she was drawn to the book because Yates' world was so different from hers.

—This author recommends—

Disturbing the Peace: A Novel

—More from this author—

Interview: What To Do With An Arrow In Your Heart

Tommy Orange on 'A Confederacy Of Dunces' Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Tommy Orange says he wasn't much of a reader in his early years. But a chance encounter with an absurd, experimental novel by John Kennedy Toole showed him a path to writing a novel that was truly his own.

—This author recommends—

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

—More from this author—

Interview: The Unheard Stories of the 'Urban Indian'

Bookmarks: Books that left their mark on us. Oct 18, 2019

Show notes

Bookmarks are stories mined from our secret lives as readers. Stories of intimate relationships and life-changing encounters with books. Stories about the books we can’t forget. In this micropodcast, the producers behind “To The Best Of Our Knowledge” ask writers and creators to share what they’ve read and how it shaped them.

New episodes every Friday. For more info, visit ttbook.org/bookmarks