Bookworm

Latest Episodes:

Patrick Ness: A Monster Calls Dec 22, 2016

Show notes

Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls – about a boy facing tremendous conflict with a bully at school, well-meaning inattentive teachers, and a dying mother – was actually already a story begun by another writer, who died before finishing it.

Rabih Alameddine: The Angel of History Dec 15, 2016

Show notes

Rabih Alameddine's The Angel of History takes place as much in the protagonist's head as it does in a psych ward where he checks himself in for a bit of rest while he battles the voices in his head.

Mitch Sisskind: Do Not Be a Gentleman When You say Goodnight Dec 08, 2016

Show notes

Mitch Sisskind's Do Not Be a Gentleman When You Say Goodnight is a distillation of nearly fifty years of brilliant comic writing.

Peter Orner: Am I Alone Here? Dec 01, 2016

Show notes

When novelist Peter Orner's father died, he found himself unable to write. At the same time, his marriage fell apart. He consoled himself by reading and started to write responses to the literature that gave him comfort.

Kate Tempest: The Bricks that Built the Houses Nov 24, 2016

Show notes

Rapper, poet, playwright and now novelist, Kate Tempest always knew she would write The Bricks that Built the Houses as an accompaniment to the characters in her record Everybody Down. (Rebroadcast)

TC Boyle: The Terranauts Nov 17, 2016

Show notes

TC Boyle's The Terranauts centers around eight earth explorers who lock themselves up in E2, a biodome created to mimic earth and test the viability of a self-sustained environment. But what happens between the eight terranauts and their mission control has a bigger impact on sustainability than science had counted on.

Tessa Hadley: The Past Nov 10, 2016

Show notes

Tessa Hadley's book, The Past, has at its center a summer vacation home, and the four middle-aged siblings who come together to decide whether to sell it or not.

Ann Patchett: Commonwealth Nov 03, 2016

Show notes

Ann Patchett's latest novel, Commonwealth, follows fifty-two years in the life of a large family. The idea of the book came to her because as a bookstore owner, she saw that what was missing from the shelves was the story of a big, modern family.

Jonathan Safran Foer: Here I Am Oct 27, 2016

Show notes

The hero of Here I Am is a pun-loving television writer who is pummeled by the loss of everything he values. This novel expands a family crisis into a global crisis which threatens the state of Israel.

Nicholson Baker: Substitute Oct 20, 2016

Show notes

Nicholson Baker's Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids was born of a desire to write a book articulating his theories about education – theories based on having had kids in school. Realizing his premise was weak, as he'd never been a teacher, he embarked on the adventure of a lifetime by becoming a substitute teacher.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected