07-15-11:A 2011 Phone Interview with David Darlington
"...the fact that so many wineries mouth this catechism while behind the scenes they are doing something completely different..."
—David Darlington
I suppose it goes without saying that David Darlington is immersed in his subject. When I called him to speak before his appearance at Capitola Book Café, he spoke so easily about his book, that the non-fiction work started to seem more like a novel. Darlington has known his characters for nearly forty years, and he is truly immersed in their life arcs. He's uniquely equipped and positioned to tell their stories.
One of the most interesting aspects of Darlington's book was his ability to convey the complexity of the technology that is becoming increasingly entrenched in the wine industry. The new gear that is being used to bring wines to an "ideal" state is, fascinatingly, a reflection of the critical terminology that is used to rate the wine.
07-13-11:Howard V. Hendrix Interviewed at SF in SF on May 9, 2011
"We're going to bring in people from all different menus who have talked about Mars."
—Howard V. Hendrix
Howard V. Hendrix is one of those science fiction writers who works well beyond the genre, a fact he easily demonstrated at the SF in SF reading on May 9, 2011. His most recent book back then was 'Visions of Mars,' the result of a academic literary conference. As he told me, it was not an easy sell to get what were (to begin with) academic papers about all things Mars published. Of course in retrospect, it seems like an obvious subject for a book.
I've been reading Hendrix since forever, and remember the experience of reading 'Empty Cities of the Full Moon' as if it were yesterday. At SF in SF, we kept the focus on his upcoming novel, and his sort-of non-fiction anthology, 'Visions of Mars.' But what was really interesting to me was the library.
Apparently, out there on the edge of the California desert, they've got a gigantic collection of science fiction papers and letters. Again, it seems like something that is obviously a good idea when you hear it has actually happened, but I must admit it also seems like something that might be only remotely possible if you were to suggest it out of the blue. But as more and more of our literature and our lives are dominated by the visions of science fiction, it seems that even academia is coming to understand just how important this form of writing is. You can hear a conversation with poet, critic, novelist and scholar Howard V. Hendrix by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
07-12-11 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 2: Erik Lasrson, In the Garden of Beasts
Here's the second episode of my new series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know.
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.
The second episode is a review of Erik Larson's 'In the Garden of Beasts,' featuring comments about Larson's reasearch, his travel, and his intentions for his world of historical non-fiction. Here's a link to the MP3 audio file.
07-11-11:A 2011 Interview with Erik Larson
Click image for audio link.
"...here's this innocent, being thrown into this cauldron..."
—Erik Larson
Erik Larson is a man with a singular talent for turning well-known historical events into page-turning historical non-fiction. He's every bit as interesting to speak to as he is to read, and my conversation with him about his latest book, 'In the Garden of Beasts,' was like getting to hear a director's commentary to a major movie. We got behind the scenes of what he found, what he saw, and what he used to create a powerful reading experience.
The key to this book, and what I wanted to pursue with Larson, was his ability to enable readers to forget what they knew about history and sympathize with characters who saw Nazis people, not a monolithic block of pure evil. There's no doubt that Nazis became that block of pure evil, but what this book does is chronicle the perspective of those who saw the journey of a country towards a destination that was itself the beginning of the journey to pure evil.
Larson and I talked about his methods of research, and his methods of writing. It is one thing to dislodge facts, and quite another to use them to create a reading experience that engages our sympathy with those for whom the Nazis are not yet a done deal. And not surprisingly, nothing — travel, archival material, published work — plays the part you as a reader might expect. This book really plays on the wide screen of your reading mind. We keep the conversation substantive but spoiler-free. Settle back and hear the Erik Larson speak by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
New to the Agony Column
05-16-12: Commentary : Mark Sundeen Pays Out 'The Man Who Quit Money' : Over the Edges
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Interview with Mark Sundeen and Daniel Suelo : "What would happen if we actually practiced this stuff?"-Daniel Suelo
05-15-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War' : Impure Life
05-08-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat' : Reading in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Mark Sundeen : "...over the years, I had heard through my friends that he had stopped using money and was living in a cave..."
04-30-12: Commentary : Christopher Moore Follows 'Sacré Bleu' : A Story in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Christopher Moore : "...it often isn't efficient to tell a story in chronological order..."
04-27-12: Commentary : Lisa Lutz on 'Trail of the Spellmans' : Meta-Fiction is Fun
Agony Column Podcast News Report: SF in SF from February 11, 2012 : Panel Discussion Moderated by Terry Bisson and Interviews with Rudy Rucker, K. W. Jeter, and Jay Lake
04-26-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Emmanuel Carrere 'The Adversary' : The Enemy Within
04-23-12: Commentary : T. M. Luhrman Listens 'When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God' : Science and the Supernaturaly
04-18-12: Commentary : Gregg Jones Stirs Through 'Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dreams' : A Dream Of Today From Yesterday
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Gregg Jones : "The Philippinos would welcome us with open arms and greet us as liberators."
04-17-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Caleb Carr 'The Alienist' : Subterranean History
04-16-12: Commentary : Richard Zacks Visits 'Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York' :The Wild, Wild East
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Richard Zacks : "Roosevelt and Riis were out looking, and if they did find a cop, he was talking to a streetwalker."
