Michael Farris Smith and James figured out pretty early on in the conversation that they were cut from the same cloth. Michael is the author of THE HANDS OF STRANGERS, RIVERS, and his latest novel, DESPERATION ROAD, is out now. He and James discuss following the story, not thinking too hard, realizing something is boring, and how the rise and fall of music can serve as a model for fiction. Then, Steve Iwanski, manager of Turnrow Book Co., talks about his store and recommends books.

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Michael Farris Smith:

https://michaelfarrissmith.com/

Michael and James discuss:

THE MAID’S VERSION by Daniel Woodrell

The Southern Festival of the Book

Square Books

Lemuria Books

Ann Patchett

Newtonville Books

Brookline Booksmith

Porter Square Books

Mississippi Book Festival

Somerset Review

CLMP

Manhattan Public Library

The Pushcart Prize

The Center for Writers at Ole Miss

Publisher’s Weekly

Carolina Wren Press

Hannah Tinti

One Story

Frederick Barthelme

Steven Barthelme

The New Yorker

Jason Isbell

“Fire Away” by Chris Stapleton

Steve Earle

“Breaker’s Roar” by Sturgill Simpson

“You Want it Darker” by Leonard Cohen

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Turnrow Book Co: http://turnrowbooks.com/

James and Steve Discuss:

COMMONWEALTH by Ann Patchett

Lady Gaga

Jamie Kornegay

FURIOUS COOL: RICHARD PRYOR AND THE WORLD THAT MADE HIM by David Henry and Joe Henry

The Alabama Booksmith

Wiley Cash

William Faulkner

Eudora Welty

THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH by Richard Flanagan

The Greenwood Shakespeare Project

DESPERATION ROAD by Michael Farris Smith

THE STRAYS by Emily Bitto

THE HISTORY OF WOLVES by Emily Fridlund

THE MIDNIGHT COOL by Lydia Peele

Ketch Secor

Old Crow Medicine Show

THE WORLD UNDONE by GJ Meyer

THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD by Douglas Preston

THE LOST CITY OF Z by David Grann

ICE GHOSTS by Paul Watson

THE WORLD TO COME by Jim Shepard

LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by George Saunders

SALVAGE THE BONES by Jesmyn Ward

MEN WE REAPED by Jesmyn Ward

SING, UNBURIED, SING by Jesmyn Ward