Junot Diaz burst onto the literary scene with "Drown," a collection of short stories voiced by Yunior, a tough-talking Latino struggling to make his way on the streets of New Jersey. Diaz has revived Yunior for his latest book, "This Is How You Lose Her." Only this time, Yunior is juggling multiple women, and figuring out how to be faithful to his fiancee. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author joins us to talk about the book, and what it takes to be faithful.
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Tagged with “authors”
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KQED Forum: Junot Diaz
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How Ray Bradbury Changed The World
How the amazing Ray Bradbury changed science fiction, literature, and the world.
Sam Weller, professor of fiction writing at Columbia College in Chicago. He’s the co-editor of the upcoming anthology Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury.
Gary Wolfe, award-winning science fiction editor, critic, and biographer. Professor of humanities at Roosevelt University.
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The Magical Imagination of Neil Gaiman
The prolific and multi-talented fantasy writer Neil Gaiman reads his modern fairy tale “Troll Bridge” and Broadway star Boyd Gaines performs a mystical tale by Jorge Luis Borges, “The Circular Ruins.” And the SELECTED SHORTS contest-winning story "Tender," by Carly Sachs, is read by Mary Brienza.
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Guardian book club podcast: Neil Gaiman
It’s 10 years since Neil Gaiman’s cult novel American Gods was published. The story centres on the adventures of Shadow, a prisoner let out a few days early due to the mysterious death of his wife, Laura.
Shadow embarks on a strange, scary, hallucinogenic road trip across the United States with the enigmatic Mr Wednesday.
The book reveals Mr Wednesday as an incarnation of Odin the All-Father, who is recruiting American manifestations of the Old Gods of ancient mythology.
The Guardian’s book club brought Neil Gaiman to the Edinburgh International Books festival to talk to John Mullan, and take questions from a lively audience
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2011/aug/24/neilgaiman-edinburgh-book-festival
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Simon Schama | Scribble, Scribble, Scribble: Writing on Politics, Ice Cream, Churchill and My Mother
"[Simon] Schama is a genius of storytelling," writes The Times of London. The author of many books, including The Embarrassment of Riches and National Book Critics Circle Award winner Rough Crossings, Schama is a Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University. A cultural essayist for The New Yorker, he has written and presented more than 30 documentaries for the BBC and PBS, including A History of Britain, The Power of Art, and The American Future: A History. Scribble, Scribble, Scribble is a witty collection of essays on a wide range of topics. (recorded 4/25/2011)
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The Books That Made Me: China Miéville
is week sees the launch of a new series on the Books podcast, The Books That Made Me, with China Miéville.
He talks about how growing up in a world where music is cobbled together from samples of other music has given wing to his piratical tendencies as a writer, and names Beatrix Potter, Max Ernst and Charlotte Brontë among those who have shaped his writing life.
Miéville cites visual art – from comics to the surrealists – as a major inspiration, confesses that he used to have a tin ear for poetry and issues a plea for help in rescuing from oblivion two novels by the Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera.
Reading list The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter Une semaine de bonté by Max Ernst Mindblast by Dambudzo Marechera Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë The General Theory of Law and Marxism by Evgeny Pashukanis Creepy Creatures edited by Barbara Ireson
Tagged with book:author=china miéville books authors writing inspiration fiction
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End-of-the-world literature
In this week’s podcast, in honour of the chaos caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, we’re talking about the apocalypse in literature.
We speak to Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, about volcanoes past, present and – most worryingly – future, and SF blogger Damien Walter and Guardian writer Xan Brooks join Sarah Crown in the studio to discuss the genesis and status of the disaster novel.
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester Kraken by China Miéville The Stand by Stephen King The Road by Cormac McCarthy The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham "There Will Come Soft Rains" (story from the collection The Martian Chronicles) by Ray Bradbury
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2010/apr/23/apocalypse-literature-volcano-krakatoa
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The Guardian Books Podcast: Looking ahead in science fiction
Science fiction is the marmite of literature – people tend to love it or hate it. Yet no one could deny that it has produced many of the great myths of our age, from Frankenstein’s monster to William Gibson’s cyber-reality.
SF blogger Damien Walter joins our panellists to discuss where it is now, and why we should all tune in to a genre that can be satirical, prophetic, political and plain good fun, often all at the same time. He also outlines some of the titles to look out for in 2010.
We also look at John Wyndham’s previously unpublished novel, Plan for Chaos, and interview China Miéville, rising star of the "new weird".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2010/jan/14/science-fiction-books-podcast
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NPR On Point: The Best Books of 2009
It’s the gift season. And the gift of a book is not just of a satisfying heft in a nice wrapping. It’s the hope and encouragement to slow down, get lost, step back and see another way. So, what to give? Or hope for? We’re looking at the best books of 2009 today, and the range is wide. From lost cities to an illustrated Old Testament. From "Love in Infant Monkeys," to "Wolf Hall" and "Little Bee." Michael Sandel makes my guests cut. So do Lorrie Moore, Jonathan Lethem, A.S. Byatt, Tania James. What about yours? This hour, On Point: for the holidays, the best books of ‘09.
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Authors on Tour: Neal Stephenson — Anathem
Since childhood, Raz has lived behind the walls of a 3,400-year-old monastery, a sanctuary for scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians. There, he and his cohorts are sealed off from the illiterate, irrational, unpredictable “saecular” world, an endless landscape of casinos and megastores that is plagued by recurring cycles of booms and busts, dark ages and renaissances, world wars and climate change. Until the day that a higher power, driven by fear, decides it is only these cloistered scholars who have the abilities to avert an impending catastrophe. And, one by one, Raz and his friends, mentors, and teachers are summoned forth without warning into the unknown.
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