Month: August 2017

James speaks with the authors of two new story collections, Tim Weed (A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING) and Meghan Kenny (LOVE IS NO SMALL THING). They discuss sequencing their books, what unifies the stories, and what they learned in the writing process. Tim tells James how short stories are like jumping in cold water, and Meghan and James contemplate pulling a Freaky Friday.

Tim Weed

Tim and James Discuss:

National Geographic

Cuba Writers Program

Sir Francis Bacon

Middlebury College

Grub Street, Inc.

Ingmar Bergman

Laura van den Berg

Benjamin Percy

Green Writers Press

John Tiholiz

Grateful Dead

JESUS’ SON by Denis Johnson

THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy

William Gay

Paul Bowles

Jim Shepard

The MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College

DOG SOLDIERS by Robert Stone

BEAR AND HIS DAUGHTER by Robert Stone

FUN WITH PROBLEMS by Robert Stone

“Helpers” by Robert Stone

THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT FICTION

 

Meghan Kenny

Meghan and James Discuss: 

Tobias Wolff

Richard Ford

Andre Dubus

PJ Mark

Lorrie Moore

Jim Shepard

Alice Munro

W.W. Norton & Company

LSU Press

Josh Weill

Anthony Doerr

FREAKY FRIDAY

The Kenyon Review Writers Workshop

Boise State University

Emerson College

Laura van den Berg

Newtonville Books

In her memoir, THE HOT ONE, Carolyn Murnick follows the case of the murder of her childhood best friend while thinking back on how they drifted apart. As the pages turn, the book explores themes like sexuality, competitiveness, aging, and the male gaze without sacrificing its considerable momentum and pace. Plus, OUT editor-in-chief and owner of the beautiful ONE GRAND BOOKS, Aaron Hicklin.

–

James and Carolyn Discuss: 

THE MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS

THE CUT

HOW TO BE A PERSON IN THE WORLD by Heather Havrilesky

PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Tom Beller

MR. BELLER’S NEIGHBORHOOD

FRENCH ROAST DIARY

NEW YORK MAGAZINE

BEFORE AND AFTER: STORIES FROM NEW YORK

MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM by Lizzy Goodman

Larry Weissman

THE FACT OF A BODY by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

–

Aaron and James discuss:

THE FOUNDING FISH by John McPhee

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE

THE BIBLE

THE QURAN

Dianne Wiest

John Cameron Mitchell

Samuel Beckett

Marlon James

Michael Stipe

Kim Gordon

Michael Cunningham

Carrie Brownstein

SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM by Joan Didion

Maggie Nelson

Lorrie Moore

James Baldwin

Virginia Woolf

Raymond Pettibon

THE JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES by James Boswell

URNE-BURIAL by Sir Thomas Browne

Tilda Swinton

“The Box” by Orbital video dir by Luke Losey

UNE VIE EXEMPLAIRE by Floc’h

Jon Buono

Alabama Booksmith

Lemuria Books

Turnrow Books

Square Books

The Pixies

Violent Femmes

 

CBGB’s

The seventh book from Benjamin Percy is the terrifying THE DARK NET. He tells James what he’s learned writing comics, how he juggles his projects, why his sister slept with the lights on into her 20s (spoiler: it’s Ben’s fault), and how he overcame being a closeted genre fan. Plus Percy’s editor and editorial director of fiction at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Helen Atsma.

Benjamin Percy

Benjamin and James Discuss:

Green Arrow

Teen Titans

Black Canary

Dennis O’Neil

Neal Adams

The Justice League

The Flash

Wonder Woman

Batman

Superman

Green Lantern

DC Comics

Juan Ferreyra

THRILL ME by Benjamin Percy

THE WARLORD

Spider-Man

Mike Grell

X-Men

Wolverine

VOODOO HEART by Scott Snyder

WHO CAN SAVE US NOW? ed by Owen King

VERTIGO COMICS

Katherine Fausset

RED MOON by Benjamin Percy

Mark Doyle

DIE HARD

The Pulitzer Price

THE DARK NET by Benjamin Percy

CONAN THE BARBARIAN Soundtrack

Tom Waits

“Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave

Enya

The Jonas Brothers

Rick Astley

Jen Percy

POETS & WRITERS MAGAZINE

REFRESH, REFRESH by Benjamin Percy

THE LANGUAGE OF ELK by Benjamin Percy

Sherman Alexie

Alice Munro

Flannery O’Connor

THRILLING TALES ed. by Michael Chabon

Jim Shepard

Nick Hornby

Margaret Atwood

Susanna Clarke

Kate Atkinson

Peter Straub

Dennis Lehane

Cormac McCarthy

The Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop

University of Nevada MFA

Kelly Link

Colson Whitehead

Justin Cronin

Karen Russell

WHAT THE WORLD WILL LOOK LIKE WHEN ALL THE WATER LEAVES US by Laura van den Berg

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf

Margot Livesey

Tim O’Brien

GQ

THE DEAD LANDS by Benjamin Percy

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Powell’s Books

INDEPENDENCE DAY

–

James and Helen Discuss: 

Steve Martin

“Refresh, Refresh” by Benjamin Percy

THE PARIS REVIEW

Katherine Fausset

TIN HOUSE

Grub Street, Inc.

Graywolf Publishing

THRILL ME by Benjamin Percy

THE WILDING by Benjamin Percy

Grand Central Publishing

THE LONEY by Andrew Michael Hurley

THE WANGS VS. THE WORLD by Jade Chang

THE DARK NET by Benjamin Percy

Stephen King

TOY STORY

JAWS

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C.S. Lewis

ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN

Archie

E.M. Forster

Alvar Aalto

MISS KOPP’S MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS by Amy Stewart

GIRL WAITS WITH GUN by Amy Stewart

NEVER COMING BACK by ALISON McGHEE

THE FIRST DAY by Phil Harrison

Marilynne Robinson