09-08-11:Rudy Rucker and Kim Stanley Robinson in The Agony Column Live at Capitola Book Café, June 4, 2011
"All of those were written on the typewriter."
—Rudy Rucker
It was kind of a family night, a coming home night, for Rudy Rucker. And I'm glad that I put off the podcast of this event until I had 'Nested Scrolls' in my hands. I think they belong together.
The event actually started before the event, when we all gathered upstairs at the very low-key pizza joint next to the Capitola Book Café. My son, Dietrich, who was taping video of the event, joined Rudy, Stan, myself and a number of Rudy's and Stan's friends for a very nice, talkative meal. It set the tone for the evening.
"..there's so much of it that really is ... that comes from the unconscious and I really don't have any control over."
—Ben Loory
It's not surprising that a writer of tales as surreal as Ben Loory might have a life that is equally strange. My original interview with Ben was to take place at the Capitola Book Café, in the office where so many of my favorite conversations have transpired. He was driving up from LA and was going to stop on his way to SF.
But as I arrived at around 5 PM on a Friday afternoon, I received a text time-stamped three hours earlier. His car had broken down on Interstate 5, and he wouldn't be making the gig. I could just imagine him there sitting in the hot shade of an underpass on one of the truly desolate highways that run up and down the state. Even if it takes me an extra hour, I avoid Highway 5. It's just too mind-numbing.
In one of those weird coincidences that would happen in Loory's surreal little stories, I ended up going to LA not long after, and was able to wrangle him into coming to the house where I was staying for an interview in my host's study. I really wanted to get some insight into the mind that created 'Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day,' an unusual and entertaining collection.
I know that these kinds of interviews can be difficult, because it was clear that Loory was not a guy who was out there visiting museums for research. It was clear that these stories came from a place within his mind that he probably didn't have much conscious access to. But there's still a journey to the printed page, and he was able to speak eloquently about how he manages to mine his dreams. That's a skill more of us could use. To hear how Ben Loory creates smart, surreal stories with nothing more than the English language, follow this link to the MP3 audio file.
09-06-11 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 8: Midwestern Noir: Michael Harvey and David Levien
Here's the eighth 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.
"...preferably throw in a few distractions as well..."
—Laurie R. King
It is always a delight to talk to Laurie R. King, because she operates on so many levels as a writer. Her work is funny, serious, literate, easy-to-read, you name it and she does it and always makes it look easy. With 'Pirate King,' she admits that she's trying to have some fun, and it carries over into our conversation.
If Laurie and I sound at ease, as if we are chatting in my dining room, that's because we are. Laurie lives here in Santa Cruz County, and I have, on occasion, had the sort of incongruous experience of seeing her in my local grocery store. It's a very good grocery store! She'll be appearing this coming Thursday, September 8, at the Capitola Book Café to launch, (I believe) her new novel 'Pirate King.'
One of the constant fascinations of King's work for me is the meta-fictional nature of the Mary Russell books. To a degree this is somewhat easy to ignore. King writes a very straightforward first-person narrative and Mary Russell's voice is immensely enjoyable. She's smart and persnickety, and rather impatient; by virtue of King's prose Mary Russell makes these qualities quite positive. King is keenly aware of what she is doing, and diving into those aspects of her work is always rewarding.
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."
