Bookworm

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Elizabeth Alexander May 07, 2009

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Praise Song for the Day: A Poem for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration (Graywolf); American Sublime (Graywolf)

When Elizabeth Alexander presented Barack Obama's inaugural poem, few of us had considered that in the history of the United States there had been only three previous inaugural poets...

Yusef Komunyakaa Apr 30, 2009

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Warhorses: Poems (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
The extraordinary part of this interview is the opportunity to hear Komunyakaa's voice as he reads his poetry. These poems are about love and war simultaneously, traumatic upheavals that may often be conjoined in this poet's vision of life.

Joanna Scott Apr 23, 2009

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Follow Me (Little, Brown)
It has been said that life is like a river, and the river in this novel twists and turns, changes direction and may even be inhabited by river fairies...

Abdellah Taia Apr 16, 2009

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Salvation Army (Semiotext(e))

In Abdellah Taïa's family and in his native country, homosexuality is surrounded by silence. All sorts of behaviors are tolerated if they are not spoken of, an intolerable circumstance for a writer...

T.C. Boyle Apr 09, 2009

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The Women (Viking)
This richly layered conversation with T.C. Boyle centers on the subjects of art and arrogance. The Women is a biographical novel, a fiction derived from the life of Frank Lloyd Wright, focused particularly on Wright's up-and-down experiences with women.

A Whitman Tribute Apr 02, 2009

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Eamon Grennan: Matter of Fact (Graywolf)
Major Jackson: Hoops (Norton)
Pattiann Rogers: Wayfare (Penguin)

Three poets join us on Bookworm to celebrate Walt Whitman. They read from Leaves of Grass, describe Whitman's influence on their work, read their own poems, and, in general, paint a raucous, friendly, informal portrait of the Good Gray Poet — America's greatest.

Robin Romm Mar 26, 2009

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The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks (Scribner)

Fact and fiction. Robin Romm has written a book of short stories and now a memoir arising from one central event: her mother’s gradual death by cancer...

Frank Bidart, Part II Mar 19, 2009

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Watching the Spring Festival: Poems (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

For Frank Bidart, the act of reading poetry aloud involves the entire body... (Part I of this interview aired March 12.)

Frank Bidart, Part I Mar 12, 2009

Show notes

Watching the Spring Festival: Poems (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

The word most frequently used to describe Frank Bidart’s poetry is “intense.” (Part II of this interview airs on March 19.)

John Haskell Mar 05, 2009

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Out of My Skin (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

An existential novel (think Camus’ The Stranger) LA-style. When a celebrity impersonator trains the hero in the art of impersonation, identity confusion ensues...

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