Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture

Latest Episodes:

Episode 296 — Jac Jemc Jul 20, 2014

Show notes

Jac Jemc is the guest. Her new story collection, A Different Bed Every Time, is due out from Dzanc Books this fall. Jesse Ball says "To Jemc the world is a place where each person, every human cypher, must devour another. What then can we do, if we are devoured, if we are overcome with our own devouring? Her escape plan is inspired and ancient -- to become protean, to dwell in costume after costume, parcelling away the truth that can be found in each. But where is it hid? Ask her, though she may not say." And Lindsay Hunter says "Jac Jemc is an artisan. A Different Bed Every Time stays with you long after you've finished reading. Every story is painstakingly crafted with words and imagery that are honed and placed just so, creating a mosaic you feel grateful, exhilarated, thrilled to experience." Monologue topics: awards shows, the word "lil," humanity, world peace, fuckedness.

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Episode 295 — Letitia Trent Jul 16, 2014

Show notes

Letitia Trent is the guest. Her debut novel, Echo Lake, is now available from Dark House Press. Kirkus Reviews says "Trent’s years as a poet serve her well in this heavily atmospheric novel, which deftly conjures up both evil and the small town’s complicit reluctance to face its past." And Kyle Minor says "Echo Lake is more than just a good debut novel. It is the coming-out party for Letitia Trent, the new poet-queen of neo-noir." Monologue topics: awards shows, celebrities, awkwardness, The Dude, Jeff Bridges.

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Episode 294 — Leesa Cross-Smith Jul 13, 2014

Show notes

Leesa Cross-Smith is the guest. Her debut story collection Every Kiss a War is now available from Mojave River Press. It was a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. Roxane Gay says “Leesa Cross-Smith is a consummate storyteller who uses her formidable talents to tell the oft-overlooked stories of people living in that great swath of place between the left and right coasts. She offers thrilling turns of phrase like, 'His mouth tasted like thousand-page Russian novels I’d never read,' or 'let your smeary mouth be his question mark.' Where she is most stunning is in the endings of each of the 27 stories in Every Kiss a War, creating crisp, evocative moments that will linger long after you’ve read this book’s very last word.” Monologue topics: mail, friends, IRL communities, fostering connectivity, being social.

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Episode 293 — Guillaume Morissette Jul 09, 2014

Show notes

Guillaume Morissette is the guest. His debut novel, New Tab, is now available from Vehicule Press. Melissa Broder says “In this hilarious novel, Morissette meditates on finding and making meaning in a time when distractions coalesce to form the new and glossy void. The deconstruction of regrets, an email with feelings and the screaming universe cement Morissette as both a master of the absurd and a seer of the real. I lol’d.” And Dazed and Confused calls him "Canada's Alt Lit poster boy." Monologue topics: being late, rushing, being unprepared, Alt Lit initiation, Frank Hinton's genitals.

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Episode 292 — Julia Fierro Jul 06, 2014

Show notes

Julia Fierro is the guest. She is the founder of the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop and her debut novel, Cutting Teeth, is now available from St. Martin's Press. The Millions says "When a group of thirty-something parents gather at a ramshackle beach house called Eden, no serpent is required for the sins, carnal and otherwise, to pile up. Fierro, founder of Brooklyn's Sackett Street Writers' Workshop, argued in The Millions last year that writers need to put the steam--and the human sentiment--back into sex scenes in literary novels. You may want to keep Fierro's debut novel on a high shelf, away from children and prudish literary snobs." And Megan Abbott says "Julia Fierro’s Cutting Teeth offers immense rewards to readers far beyond those who will identify with the frantic, conflicted, yearning parents who fill the novel (though many will). It’s for any reader seeking a tale rich in character, strong in voice and filled with both incisive social critique and a luminous generosity of spirit, a rare combination indeed." Monologue topics: mail, Labor Day, childbirth.

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Episode 291 — John Brandon Jul 02, 2014

Show notes

John Brandon is the guest. His new story collection, Further Joy, is now available from McSweeney's. Kirkus Reviews calls it “An impressive collection, cleareyed and penetrating.” And Booklistcalls it "Intensely readable, and enormously entertaining.” Monologue topics: vacation, relaxation, terrifying hippies, chickens, dancing white women, Coldplay.

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Episode 290 — Smith Henderson Jun 29, 2014

Show notes

Smith Henderson is the guest. His debut novel, Fourth of July Creek, is now available from Ecco. Ron Charles of The Washington Post calls it “The best book I’ve read so far this year...Henderson choreographs these parts so masterfully that the novel is never less than wholly engaging… All week I was looking for opportunities to slip back into these pages and follow the trials of this rural social worker.” And The New York Times says “First novels don’t come much more confidently written or fully imagined than this.” Monologue topics: travel, family travel, parental aspirations, travel hell.

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Episode 289 — Miranda Beverly-Whittemore Jun 25, 2014

Show notes

Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is the guest. Her new novel, Bittersweet, is now available from Crown. It is a New York Times bestseller and the official June selection of The TNB Book Club. Entertainment Weekly says “What begins a little like Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep quickly warps into a sickly addictive thriller…think ABC’s Revenge when it was good, only more scandalous…With books like Bittersweet to stuff in beach bags, it’s beginning to feel a lot more like summer." And The New York Times Book Review says "A fairy tale aspect—of the Grimm, not the Disney variety—pervades the novel, which artfully builds an increasing sense of menace…Like a Downton-in-Vermont, Bittersweet takes swift, implausible plot turns, and its family secrets flow like a bottomless magnum of champagne, but Beverly-Whittemore succeeds in shining a light into the dark, brutal flaws of the human heart.” Monologue topics: success, competition, ego, Vanity Fair, The Last Magazine.

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Episode 288 — Mike Sacks Jun 22, 2014

Show notes

Mike Sacks is the guest. His new book, Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers, is now available from Penguin. Bob Odenkirk says “No one generates more interesting, revealing, or entertaining interviews than Mike Sacks. Poking a Dead Frog is a classic.” And Will Ferrell says “This book is what I really look forward to in a book about humor: rich with words and humor, and funny stories with words. Thank you for your time.” Monologue topics: family vacation, sweltering heat, chickens, fear, sexlessness.

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Episode 287 — Robin Sloan Jun 18, 2014

Show notes

Robin Sloan is the guest. His bestselling novel, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, was the May 2014 selection of the TNB Book Club. It is now available in paperback from Picador. George Saunders calls it “A real tour de force [and] a beautiful fable...The reader is swept along by Sloan’s enthusiasm.” And John Hodgman says “In a time when actual books are filling up tag-sale dollar boxes, along with VHS tapes and old beepers, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore reminds us that there is an intimate, adventurous joy in the palpable papery things called novels, and in the warm little secret societies we used to call ‘bookstores.’ Robin Sloan’s novel is delightfully funny, provocative, deft, and even thrilling. And for reasons more than just nostalgia, I could not stop turning these actual pages." Monologue topics: Episode 300, Stephen King, Lorrie Moore, Teju Cole, angst, Mary Karr, false summits.

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