Ever since reading an early copy of Michael Nye’s first novel, ALL THE CASTLES BURNED, James has wanted to talk to the author of such an engaging and thought-provoking book. They discuss knowing good books from page one, declaring a new read dead, and writing sports scenes. Thankfully, they save their Celtics talk for off the air. Plus, poet Lauren Moseley, author of BIG WINDOWS.

Michael Nye

Michael and James discuss: 

Bruce Willis

HOSTAGE dir. by Florent Siri

FEEL FREE by Zadie Smith

SOME HELL by Patrick Nathan

BACK TALK: STORIES by Danielle Lazarin

THE FIFTH ELEMENT dir. by Luc Besson

PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee

HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL: ESSAYS by Alexander Chee

THE MISSOURI REVIEW

BOULEVARD

Jane Smiley

PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld

THE STARBOARD SEA by Amber Dermont

A SEPARATE PEACE by John Knowles

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger

THE ART OF FIELDING by Chad Harbach

Mitch Albom

John Birch

Tom Ripley

OUR HEARTS WILL BURN US DOWN by Anne Valente

Lauren Moseley

Lauren and James discuss:

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

Yaddo

Alice Eve Cohen

Joellen Craft

NASHVILLE REVIEW

UNC- Greensboro

Carnegie Mellon University Press

Rebecca Morgan Frank

AWP Conference

THE GREENSBORO REVIEW

DEAR APOCALYPSE by K.A. Hays

In his first essay collection, UP UP DOWN DOWN, Cheston Knapp attends skateboarding camp for adults, recalls his fraternity days, looks for UFOs, and checks out the local wrestling circuit, all in the name of learning more about himself. He and James talk about the art of the essay, the search for community, editing at Tin House, and the difficulty they have living in the moment. Plus Scribner art director and designer Jaya Miceli on book covers.

Cheston Knapp

Cheston and James discuss:

David Foster Wallace

Charles D’Ambrosio

W. G. Sebald

HAMLET

Joan Didion

Zadie Smith

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Edmund Husserl

Leslie Jamison

A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER by Tom Clancy

Graham Greene

John LeCarre

Sarah Manguso

Maggie Nelson

Jaya Miceli

Jaya and James discuss:

UP UP DOWN DOWN by Cheston Knapp

Anna Laytham (designer)

Daniel Loedel

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins

THE ANIMALS by Christian Kiefer

THE READY MADE THIEF by Augustus Rose

Marcel Duchamp

Viking Penguin

Helen Yentus (art director, Riverhead/ designer)

Riverhead Books

INTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins

A SEPARATION by Katie Kitamura

THE INCENDIARIES by R.O. Kwon

MY ABSOLUTE DARLING by Gabriel Tallent

SING, UNBURIED, SING by Jesmyn Ward

Paul Buckley (art director, Penguin)

WEST by Carys Davies

Lauren Peters-Collaer (designer)

I’D DIE FOR YOU by F. Scott Fitzgerald

FLESH, BONE, WATER by Luiza Sauma