In Episode 14, your favorite literary journeymen try to put the education of an author in context: When does a writer’s apprenticeship start? When does it end? What are you supposed to learn, and when, and for god’s sake, how? Plus, ex-presidents reincarnated as horses in Karen Russell’s story “The Barn at the End of Our Term.”
- Download directly as an MP3
- Subscribe to us and write a review on iTunes
- Subscribe to the new episode RSS feed
Reading Discussed
- Karen Russell’s “The Barn at the End of Our Term.”
- Chabon’s Kavalier and Clay changed the course of Brian’s life.
- Beginning writers trying to figure out what is at stake in their fiction can get some direction in On Becoming a Novelist, by John Gardner.
- Jon offered Dennis Lehane’s Live by Night as an example of a near-perfect book by an author who spent decades figuring out his craft.
- Ben countered with Kerouac’s On The Road as a classic that captures the energy of youthful brilliance. Of course, Truman Capote said of the book, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.”
- Jon and Brian could agree on “that one good book” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Beyond Gatsby, Jon was less generous. Brian disagreed. Jon stood firm. And let’s acknowledge the help Fitzgerald got from the editing team of Maxwell Perkins and Malcom Jamal Warner
- Jon couldn’t go a half hour without plugging Philip Roth; he assures us that Sabbath’s Theater has the energy and driving force of a young man’s novel. Same with Ron Rash’s Serena.
- NASCAR comes to Watkins Glen each August. There’s always plenty of room in the infield, but watch out for the Witman brothers.