11-09-14 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 182: Dana Cowin, 'Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen: Learning to Cook with 65 Great Chefs and Over 100 Delicious Recipes'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred eighty-second episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I seem to be on top opf the game, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to stay back up and stumbling.
Stumbling is obviously the key word here, but I am trying to keep up with projects in the future as well as catch up with projects in the past. My apologies to Brian and the other Europe interviews that are taking so long to edit and get posted. I'm trying folks!
My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.
11-06-14: A 2014 Interview with Paolo Bacigalupi and A. S. King
Click image for audio link.
"You're handing us all the problems..." —Paolo Bacigalupi
"That gray area is so important for readers... —A. S. King
After I spoke to each author separately — while we all at in the office at Bookshop Santa Cruz — I spoke to the two of them together, which involved me saying fewer words than I plan on writing about the conversation. I can see why they sent these to authors on tour together. They would have made a great bill for a show I used to podcast.
A. S. (Amy) King is as no-nonsense as her novel, 'Glory O'Brien's History of the Future,' which should not be taken to mean that she's without imagination or whimsy. What was interesting to me was how well she combined the peculiar and the pragmatic in our conversation.
She teaches (of course) and there's an element of the teacher present in our conversation. Perhaps a better word would be educator, because there's no didactic intent in her decidedly feminist direction. She spoke ardently about feminism, and her own experience with the ERA. Those who don't know what I'm talking about can ask their teachers. (No, don't say you're going to Companyverb it. Don't.)
It really helps to hear that King likes teenagers and hold them in high regard. She explained to me that the book came about because she read the first bit to her class and they demanded the whole story. This bat-drinking craze may not achieve the level of popularity that she is hoping for.
"...these are perfectly nice people..."
—Paolo Bacigalupi
I'm fortunate enough to live in a small town that has the ability to draw some big names to Bookshop Santa Cruz; often more than even I can keep up with as I make my appointments pretty far in advance. That aid, when I look at my literary events calendar for the show and see that Paolo Bacigalupi is making an appearance to talk about 'The Doubt Factory,' I pull into quick-study / scramble mode and get my reading done.
Paolo was appearing with A. S. King, so I took the opportunity to interview each separately and then the two of the together. Paolo was fired up about his latest, his first (I'd have to say "sort-of") non-science fiction, that is, mainstream thriller for young adults. But this reads a bit like a novel Philip K. Dick might have written back in the day, and even though there are no overtly speculative elements, Paolo just brings that SFnal "sense of wonder" feel to his writing.
In a pretty action-packed, twentyish minutes, he and I talked about how he crafts the novels, to wit; does research inspire story or does story inspire research? Paolo is particularly strong in both departments. And even though this book is sold as a YA novel, I can't imagine any adult reading it and not loving it just as much as they would any other novel with what — more sex and violence explicitly on the page? To my mind that can be crutch to involve a reader when ideas and characters are not up to snuff. To find out which side of the research/story question Paolo falls on and hear lot of great banter from him, follow this link to the MP3 audio file.
Expect tomorrow to bring you an interview with A. S. King, a review of her book 'Glory O'Brien's History of the Future' and an interview with the two writers together.
New to the Agony Column
09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
