Dan talks to James about his remarkable new collections of plays, PLAYS ONE, and poetry, NEW LIFE, made even more remarkable by Dan’s fight with colon cancer. The afternoon after a clean scan, he and James discuss the illness, young writers, and their shared affinity for not reading reviews. Then, Shuchi Saraswat talks about her excellent essay for Tin House and, as a book buyer for Brookline Booksmith, recommends her favorite summer reads and fall books to look forward to.

Dan O’Brien

Dan and James Discuss:

ILLNESS AS METAPHOR by Susan Sontag

Sewanee Writers’ Conference

Middlebury College

THE VOYAGE OF THE CARCASS by Dan O’Brien (DO)

THE DEAR BOY (DO)

Andra Harbold

Blake Montgomery

School Jacques Lecoq

Vassar College

New York Stage and Film

Williamstown Theatre Festival

Brown University

Jessica St. Clair

Pauline Kael

THE NEW YORKER

INDIANA JONES

THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN (DO)

ICE GHOSTS by Paul Watson

Sam Shepard

Eugene O’Neill Theater Center: National Playwrights Conference

Patti Smith

BREAD LOAF WRITERS’ CONFERENCE

Thomas Mallon

Pinckney Benedict

NEW LIFE: POEMS (DO)

WAR REPORTER (DO)

THE HOUSE IN HYDESVILLE (DO)

THE CHERRY SISTERS REVISITED (DO)

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Shuchi and James discuss:

RUNNING IN THE FAMILY by Michael Ondaatje

TIN HOUSE

Emma Komlos-Hrobsky

Teju Cole

John Berger

W.G. Sebald

IN THE SKIN OF A LION by Michael Ondaatje

DIVISADERO by Michael Ondaatje

IN THE DISTANCE by Hernan Diaz

MEEK’S CUTOFF dir by Kelly Reichardt

THE CAT’S TABLE by Michael Ondaatje

THE BURNING GIRL by Clare Messud

SMALL TREASONS by Mark Powell

THE MOUNTAIN by Paul Yoon

HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES by Carmen Maria Machado

Kelly Link

Aimee Bender

Laura van den Berg

Karen Russell

AT NIGHT WE WALK IN CIRCLES by Daniel Alarcon

THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE by Daniel Alarcon

FIVE-CARAT SOUL by James McBride

THE GOOD LORD BIRD by James McBride

Jeffrey Eugenides

Tom Hanks

Steve Martin

Junot Diaz

Alice Munro

Jim Shepard

Brookline Booksmith

NOBODY IS EVER MISSING by Catherine Lacey