Collected Interviews, 2004-2010 http://www.victorialautman.com Copyright 2004-2010 Victoria Lautman Productions, Chicago Victoria Lautman Victoria Lautman hosted and produced Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman. which was inaugurated in 2004. Each hour-long interview was broadcast on 98.7WFMT radio, and unfolded before a live audience either at Lookingglass Theatre or the Harold Washington Library Center. Chicago’s “most prestigious” author interview series signed off in June 2010. Victoria Lautman hosted and produced Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman. which was inaugurated in 2004. Each hour-long interview was broadcast on 98.7WFMT radio, and unfolded before a live audience either at Lookingglass Theatre or the Harold Washington Library Center. Chicago’s “most prestigious” author interview series signed off in June 2010. Victoria Lautman Productions chris@joinks.com no en Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/edward_p_jones.mp3 Jones' got the Pulitzer Prize for fiction with this first book that took him a decade to write, based on the little-known fact of black slave-owners in pre-Civil War Virginia. He concocted everything else from his imagination, with gorgeous writing, convincing antebellum dialogue, and a complex cast of characters with equally complex relationships. A tour de force book from a shy, brilliant man thrust suddenly into the spotlight. Interview with Edward P. Jones regarding "The Known World" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, September 12, 2004. 01:00:00 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/edward_p_jones.mp3 Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/susan_orlean.mp3 The sophisticated essays in "My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere" by the award-winning New Yorker writer Susan Orlean all focus on some form of journey, whether visiting a taxidermist convention in Illinois, scaling Mount Fuji, commenting on sidewalk vendors in Bangkok, or soaking in a Hungarian spa. Orlean has a unique point of view, one which led her earlier books (The Bullfighter Checks Her Make-Up, Saturday Night, The Orchid Thief) to the best-seller lists. Interview with Susan Orlean regarding "My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, October 17, 2004. 00:58:29 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/susan_orlean.mp3 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/susan_orlean.mp3 Running with Scissors made Burroughs’ outrageous and scathingly funny personal history accessible to everyone; his next memoir, Dry, took fans on a shocking romp through the world of alcoholism and rehab. But then Burroughs decided to write a collection of essays on a wider range of topics from his seemingly bottomless pit of awkward, bizarre, and hilarious experiences, which he talk about in this equally hilarious interview. Interview with Augusten Burroughs regarding "Magical Thinking: True Stories" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, November 21, 2004. 00:59:34 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/augusten_burroughs.mp3 Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/susanna_clarke.mp3 This 800-page tome about dueling magicians in early 19th-century England took the literary world by storm and was published in over twenty languages. It is Clarke’s first book, took her ten years to write, and is an utterly fascinating story of an imagined British past complete with evil faeries, long-lost kings, archaic spells, parallel universes, and such actual historical figures as Napoleon, Lord Byron, the Duke of Wellington, and King George. Interview with Susanna Clarke regarding "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, December 19, 2004. 01:00:14 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/susanna_clarke.mp3 Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/aleksandar_hemon.mp3 Hemon’s life drastically changed course when he became an accidental refugee in Chicago. Stranded during the war in his hometown of Sarajevo, he began to write in his newfound language, his life becoming inextricably woven into his award-winning work. Both of his books—the first a collection of stories, the second a novel—manage to be fragmented, non-linear, minutely-observed, funny, and deeply moving all at the same time. He snared a MacArthur Prize in 2004. Interview with Aleksandar Hemon regarding "Nowhere Man" and "The Question of Bruno" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, January 23, 2005. 01:00:41 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/aleksandar_hemon.mp3 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/francine_prose.mp3 With more than twenty books published—novels, short-story collections, non-fiction, children’s books—Prose is as gifted as she is prolific, and isn’t afraid of being controversial. This novel tackles a darkly-comic subject: what would happen if a young neo-Nazi switched sides and began working for a human rights organization founded by a Holocaust survivor? Through intimate inner monologues from four disparate central characters, Prose convincingly channels the shifting, intense observations and emotions. Her earlier work includes Blue Angel, The Lives of the Muses, Household Saints, Primitive People, Guided Tours of Hell, Hunters and Gatherers, Gluttony and many others. Interview with Francine Prose regarding "A Changed Man" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, March 20, 2005. 00:57:49 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/francine_prose.mp3 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jonathan_safran_foer.mp3 Everything Is Illuminated created a sensation for the twenty-five year old first-time author in 2002. His anticipated follow-up centered on the nine year-old protagonist Oskar Schell, a precocious, compulsive wunderkind whose father was killed in the World Trade Center attacks and in whose memory Schell embarks on an unusual quest. Foer’s unique use of typography, photographs and structure in the book further enhanced the unusual narrative. Interview with Jonathan Safran Foer regarding "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, April 24, 2005. 01:00:02 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jonathan_safran_foer.mp3 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/sue_miller.mp3 The idyllic wine country of Northern California is the setting for Miller’s seventh novel, a background against which one family’s disintegrating dynamics are minutely observed. There’s divorce, a sudden tragic death, adolescent daughters whose lives aren’t being tracked—and a predatory older “friend” to help create extreme emotional and sexual tension. Like all of Miller’s work (The Good Mother, Family Pictures, While I Was Gone, The World Below) the complexities of daily life are shown to be as absorbing as an epic adventure. Interview with Sue Miller regarding "Lost in the Forest" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, May 22, 2005. 00:58:35 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/sue_miller.mp3 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/michael_cunningham.mp3 Cunningham’s The Hours nabbed the 1999 Pulitzer Prize by pushing literary boundaries, and Specimen Days pushed a little further. A trio of stories in three distinct time periods all take place in and around New York City: one in the 19th century, one in the present, and the last one some time in the future. Each story is linked through characters and emotions that appear across the boundaries of time and space. Wafting through each tale is the presence of Walt Whitman’s poetry. Cunningham’s previous novels—A Home at the End of the World and Flesh and Blood earned him legions of fans, and his interviews offer them a great deal. Interview with Michael Cunningham regarding "Specimen Days" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, June 12, 2005. 00:59:01 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/michael_cunningham.mp3 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://victorialautman.com/media/bret_easton_ellis.mp3 Bret Easton Ellis was a mere twenty-one year old when Less Than Zero catapulted him to fame; he produced a number of novels afterwards, including the controversial American Psycho, as well as The Rules of Attraction, The Informers, and finally Glamorama in 1999. Ellis’s first novel in six years, Lunar Park features a narrator named Bret Easton Ellis and a suburban life gone awry following a spectacularly self-destructive literary career. Morphing into a creepy ghost story complete with ectoplasm and murderous plush-toys, this is one book and interview that had readers fascinated. Interview with Bret Easton Ellis regarding "Lunar Park" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, September 18, 2005. 01:00:35 Victoria Lautman http://victorialautman.com/media/bret_easton_ellis.mp3 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/louise_erdrich.mp3 Beginning with her auspicious debut in 1984 with Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich went on to produce poetry, children’s books, non-fiction, short stories and many other novels (including The Beet Queen, Tracks, Tales of Burning Love, The Antelope Wife, The Bingo Palace, The Master Butcher’s Singing Club) all imbued with Native American life and characters that resonate with tremendous lyrical power. The Painted Drum describes a number of troubled, even ruined lives that are woven together across time, linked by a sacred drum with its own tragic origin. Interview with Louise Erdrich regarding "The Painted Drum" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, October 16, 2005. 00:59:02 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/louise_erdrich.mp3 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/frank_mccourt.mp3 Frank McCourt’s meteoric success following his harrowing, Pulitzer Prize-winning 1996 memoir Angela’s Ashes unleashed a gripping story that continued three years later in his second tome, ‘Tis: A Memoir. The literary “final installment” of McCourt’s life takes place in Teacher Man, which recalls the three decades he spent teaching in the New York City public schools, instructing thousands of challenging adolescents. A hilarious story-teller in person, McCourt’s interviews are perennial favorites. Interview with Frank McCourt regarding "Teacher Man" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, September 18, 2005. 01:00:07 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/frank_mccourt.mp3 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/james_mcmanus.mp3 After enthralling readers with his insider’s view of poker, murder, and Las Vegas mayhem in Positively Fifth Street, McManus turns his eye (and the rest of his body) to the world of medicine in this expedition to the Mayo Clinic for a comprehensive physical exam. Detours abound—personal, impassioned, infuriated and affecting sub-stories involving everything from the evolution of “concierge medicine” to the politics of stem-cell research to the emergency treatment of his own child’s wounded eye. McManus’ razor-sharp observations and wit always make his books and interviews sparkle. Interview with James McManus regarding "Physical: An American Check-Up" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, January 22, 2006. 01:00:30 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/james_mcmanus.mp3 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/margo_jefferson.mp3 Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times cultural critic Margo Jefferson uses her insightful, poetic and personal journalistic style to analyze the racial, cultural, and family forces that contributed to Michael Jackson’s stardom and subsequent fall from grace. In this unusual non-fiction book, Jefferson references such icons as Edgar Allen Poe, Montaigne, P.T. Barnum, Oscar Wilde, Peter Pan, and Mr. Bojangles to create a meditative riff on one of the most influential performers of all time. Interview with Margo Jefferson regarding "On Michael Jackson" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, February 19, 2006. 01:02:34 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/margo_jefferson.mp3 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/elizabeth_kostova.mp3 The intricate historical tracking of legendary vampire Dracula—and his real-life inspiration, Vlad the Impaler—makes Kostova’sdebut novel an intellectual rollercoaster that spans years, decades, and finally, centuries. She fearlessly conjures up letters, memoirs, dossiers and archival materials in libraries from Istanbul to Oxford, and sets in motion a couple of love stories along the way. No wonder The Historian took ten years to write (but was translated into over thirty languages)! Interview with Elizabeth Kostova regarding "The Historian" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, March 26, 2006. 01:00:38 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/elizabeth_kostova.mp3 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jay_mcinerney.mp3 Bright Lights, Big City was McInerney’s dazzling debut in 1984, which won the author instant stardom and produced headline-making bad behavior. Five more novels followed (The Last of the Savages, Brightness Falls, Ransom, Story of My Life, Model Behavior) before The Good Life, a tender and even romantic chronicle of post-9/11 life centered on two privileged Manhattan couples and their search for contentment. McInerney’s interview is funny and surprisingly candid. Interview with Jay McInerney regarding "The Good Life" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, April 30, 2006. 01:02:38 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jay_mcinerney.mp3 Sun, 04 May 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jay_mcinerney.mp3 Two-time winner of the Booker Prize (for Oscar and Lucinda in 1988 and True History of the Kelly Gang in 2001), Australian-born writer Peter Carey is brilliant, hilarious, and wildly imaginative. This rollicking novel—his ninth—begins in an Australian backwater and careens through the heady art-world of Manhattan and Tokyo in the 1980’s. Narrated by formerly famous painter “Butcher” Boone and his mentally challenged brother Hugh, the story unfurls a net of intrigue, greed, deception and obsession, thanks to the sexy, mysterious Marlene. Carey’s other books, including My Life as a Fake, Jack Maggs, Illywhacker, Wrong About Japan, Bliss, The Tax Inspector, and The Unusual Life of Tristran Smith, have collectively proved him to be an endlessly-inventive author who gives a fun interview. Interview with Peter Carey regarding "Theft: A Love Story" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, May 21, 2006. 00:58:41 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/peter_carey.mp3 Sun, 11 May 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/julia_glass.mp3 Julia Glass nabbed the prestigious National Book Award with her debut novel, Three Junes in 2002, and her second novel was eagerly anticipated. No less rewarding, the follow-up book draws the reader into a dense tapestry of story-lines that intersect in unexpected ways and rocket between past and present, with one character, Fenno McLeod, resurrected from Three Junes.Centered on Manhattan pastry chef Greenie Duquette, the tale detours to Santa Fe where Greenie moves with her young son while her marriage falters. Glass calls herself a “late bloomer” after giving up an art career to write full time and publishing her first book at age forty-six. Interview with Julia Glass regarding "The Whole World Over" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, June 11, 2006. 00:59:27 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/julia_glass.mp3 Sun, 18 May 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/mary_gaitskill.mp3 A National Book Award finalist, Veronica is an edgy, elegiac novel told in flashbacks over the course of a single day but spanning several decades. The story is told by Alison, a former teen runaway-turned-fashion-model who forms an unusual bond with a brash office worker who is many years older. The stream-of-consciousness, nuanced memories and vivid journey into Alison’s painful past makes this book—and Gaitskill’s interview—indelible and very compelling. Gaistkill’s psycho-sexual earlier books (Two Girls, Fat and Thin; Bad Behavior; Because They Wanted To) earned her the moniker, “Downtown Princess of Darkness” for their intense, unflinching style. Interview with Mary Gaitskill regarding "Veronica" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, September 24, 2006. 01:00:52 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/mary_gaitskill.mp3 Sun, 25 May 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/adam_gopnik.mp3 Adam Gopnik has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1986, and his previous collection of essays, Paris to the Moon, became an international best-seller that chronicled his family’s five-year stint in the City of Light. This second collection details their re-entry to Manhattan—now with two children in tow—and encompasses family tragedies, triumphs, the shattering event of 9/11, and examines the city anew. Gopnik’s style—both written and verbal—is witty, sharp, and always intelligent. His children’s novel, The King in the Window, was published in 2005. Interview with Adam Gopnik regarding "Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, October 22, 2006. 01:00:07 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/adam_gopnik.mp3 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/sena_naslund.mp3 Award-winning author Sena Naslund talks about her fictionalized account of Marie Antoinette’s fascinating, if doomed, rise to power from ignorant Austrian teenager to the Queen of France. Conceived as an imaginative diary, Abundance incorporates facts, historical research, and actual letters from Antoinette’s life as she navigated the elaborate etiquette, political intrigue, and personal scandals at the court of Louis XVI. Naslund’s earlier novel, Ahab’s Wife, created a character from a single reference in Melville’s Moby Dick, and became an international best-seller. Interview with Sena Jeter Naslund regarding "Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antionette" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, November 19, 2006. 00:56:47 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/sena_naslund.mp3 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/martin_amis.mp3 Award-winning author Sena Naslund talks about her fictionalized account of Marie Antoinette’s fascinating, if doomed, rise to power from ignorant Austrian teenager to the Queen of France. Conceived as an imaginative diary, Abundance incorporates facts, historical research, and actual letters from Antoinette’s life as she navigated the elaborate etiquette, political intrigue, and personal scandals at the court of Louis XVI. Naslund’s earlier novel, Ahab’s Wife, created a character from a single reference in Melville’s Moby Dick, and became an international best-seller. Interview with Martin Amis regarding "House of Meetings" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, January 28, 2007. 01:01:01 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/martin_amis.mp3 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/alice_hoffman.mp3 Hoffman’s seventeenth novel is a lyrical, modern-day fairytale and ghost story of sorts that begins with an enchanted and passionate romance. But this fateful relationship quickly devolves into a marriage mired in guilt, longing, and loss. Three generations of one tortured family unfurl in a famous, modernist Connecticut home known as “The Glass Slipper”, but Hoffman’s unfailing belief in the power of love and fate (as always, with a dash of the supernatural…) make this and all her books compelling. Her first novel, Property Of, was written while Hoffman was a twenty-one year old Stanford University student. Over the next thirty years her novels have included The Ice Queen, Blackbird House, Practical Magic, The River King, Here on Earth, Aquamarine, Indigo, and a dozen others. Interview with Alice Hoffman regarding "Skylight Confessions" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, February 25, 2007. 01:00:39 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/alice_hoffman.mp3 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/anne_lamott.mp3 Lamott is at her witty, edgy, Liberal best in this interview about her latest collection of essays. Whether raging against the current political landscape, recalling her former hard-drinking and drug-taking past, explaining the complex emotions behind assisting a friend’s suicide, or neurotically worrying about her teenaged son, Lamott never fails to resonate with readers of all faiths, or no faith at all. Her humanity and compassion reverberate through all her books—fiction and non-fiction alike, including her best-selling Operating Instructions, Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Blue Shoe, and Plan B. Interview with Anne Lamott regarding "Grace, Eventually: Thoughts on Faith" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, March 25, 2007. 01:00:21 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/anne_lamott.mp3 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/anchee_min.mp3 Min’s indelible memoir, Red Azalea (1994) became an instant success and launched a literary career that began in poverty and despair during China’s Cultural Revolution. In this interview, Min talks about the life of Empress Tzu Hsi, the resilient, powerful and reviled empress of China from 1856 to 1908, who entered the Forbidden City as an anonymous concubine and rose to become the country’s ultimate ruler. Empress Orchid (2004) covered the first part of Tzu Hsi’s startling life; The Last Empress continues the story until her death. Min’s other books, Katherine, Wild Ginger, and Becoming Madame Mao have cemented the author’s reputation as a writer of great insight and passion. Interview with Anchee Min regarding "The Last Empress" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, April 22, 2007. 00:59:52 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/anchee_min.mp3 Sun, 6 Jul 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/arthur_philips.mp3 Angelica unfolds in Victoria London and quickly ensnares the reader with its lush language and rich historical detail. Strange occurrences are taking place in the Barton household which may or may not involve a horrifying sexual predator who may or may not be a ghost focused on the young Angelica. The complex story is told from four successive viewpoints which continually recast the story, with the same cleverness and wit that permeated Phillips’ two previous best-sellers, Prague and The Egyptologist. Phillips is equally clever in his interview. Interview with Arthur Philips regarding "Angelica" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, May 20, 2007. 01:01:47 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/arthur_philips.mp3 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/nathan_englander.mp3 Englander made an astonishing literary debut at age twenty-nine with his best-selling, award-winning short story collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges (1999). Then fans had to wait eight years for his first novel, well worth the anticipation: set in Buenos Aires during the 1970’s when Argentina’s “Dirty War” caused thousands of citizens to be disappeared at the hands of the military government, Kaddish and Lillian Poznan enter the nightmare when their son is hauled away. Englander talks about the years spent writing the dark but droll story, and his decision to leave his Orthodox upbringing behind. Interview with Nathan Englander regarding "The Ministry of Special Cases" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, June 24, 2007. 01:01:23 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/nathan_englander.mp3 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/edwidge_danticat.mp3 Edwidge Danticat’s searing family memoir, Brother, I’m Dying, ricochets from Haiti to Brooklyn, and bounces between the two most important men in the writers’ life: her dad and his brother. When Danticat’s mother and father moved to the United States to pursue a better life for their children, Uncle Joseph devoted eight years to raising Edwidge and her brother before they could be re-united with their parents in New York. Joseph’s death in the custody of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security set this book in motion, but Danticat’s stories of her turbulent and evocative homeland are at the core of all her beloved best-sellers: Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994). Krik? Krak! (1995), The Farming of Bones, (1998) and The Dew Breaker (2004). Interview with Edwidge Danticat regarding "Brother, I'm Dying" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, September 30, 2007. 01:00:00 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/edwidge_danticat.mp3 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/andrea_barrett.mp3 Scientific discovery, arctic exploration, and hideous diseases of centuries past are all fodder for Andrea Barrett’s unique brand of fiction, and The Air We Breathe is no exception. In it, Barrett revisits the scourge of tuberculosis, a topic she explored in an earlier short story, The Cure. Set in 1916, in a remote Adirondack village devoted to the care of TB patients, the novel explores changing relationships among the locals (both ill and well, rich and poor) as America prepares to enter WWI. As an added treat, there are overlapping characters familiar from Barrett’s earlier books Ship Fever, The Voyage of the Narwhal, and Servants of the Map. Interview with Andrea Barrett regarding "Brother, I'm Dying" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, September 30, 2007. 01:00:21 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/andrea_barrett.mp3 Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/ann_packer.mp3 With her best-selling debut novel, The Dive From Clausen's Pier (2002), Ann Packer established herself as a writer unafraid to explore intense emotions and uncomfortable situations. Her second novel, Songs Without Words, also mixes calamity, friendship, love, and the unexpected choices people make in their lives. What happens to the decades-long friendship of two middle-aged women in the aftershock of personal crisis? Neither acts as they might have predicted. Packer once more nails the nuances of modern angst and personal suffering, and discusses her intense working methods in this interview. Interview with Ann Packer regarding "Songs Without Words" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, November 20, 2007. 00:59:31 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/ann_packer.mp3 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/michael_lowenthal.mp3 Michael Lowenthal’s best-selling novel, Charity Girl, is based on a startling, little-known historical fact: during World War I, the United States government arrested and incarcerated some 30,000 women suspected of carrying venereal disease. These young women were held against their will and without legal recourse, sometimes for over a year, until they were cured using barbaric medical protocols. Charity Girl imagines the fate of a fictional girl as she struggles for independence, security, love, and finally, freedom itself. In this interview, Michael Lowenthal talks about his process, his research, and how he became infatuated by such an unusual subject. Interview with Michael Lowenthal regarding "Charity Girl" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, January 13, 2008. 01:00:38 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/michael_lowenthal.mp3 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/russell_banks.mp3 The setting for Russell Banks’ eleventh novel, The Reserve, is a private Adirondack “camp” for wealthy sophisticates circa 1936, and a noir atmosphere permeates the story. There’s passion, adultery and murder, not to mention the economic struggles, social hierarchy and political upheavals that rocked the world during that tumultuous time. Banks—the revered author of such award-winners as Continental Drift, Cloudsplitter, and Affliction—loosely based his main character on socialist American artist Rockwell Kent, while other historical references (the Hindenburg, the Spanish Civil War, early lobotomies) make appearances in this roller-coaster of a book. Russell Banks discusses the arc of his long career in this illuminating interview. Interview with Russell Banks regarding "The Reserve" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, February 10, 2008. 01:00:26 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/russell_banks.mp3 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/richard_price.mp3 Richard Price’s enviable writing career spans turbo-charged movies like The Color of Money and Ransom, a stint on the award-winning television series, The Wire and even a script for Michael Jackson’s Bad video. But it was his first gritty best-selling novel, The Wanderers (1974) that launched it all. Nearly twenty-five years and several novels later, Price presented Lush Life, hailed as an electrifying tour de force that unfolds within the many layers—and complex, morphing history—of urban Manhattan. In this interview, Richard Price reads two sections of the book and muses about his writing trajectory. Interview with Richard Price regarding "Lush Life" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, March 9, 2008. 01:01:24 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/richard_price.mp3 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/elizabeth_strout.mp3 Elizabeth Strout wrote secretly for decades before publishing her first novel, Amy and Isabelle (1998) to enormous acclaim and tremendous sales. That best-seller was followed by another eight years later, and Abide with Me cemented Strout’s reputation as a gifted, nuanced writer. Olive Kitteridge revisits the coast of Maine, central to most of Strout’s narratives, but this unusual novel unfolds in a series of interconnected stories linked by the centrifugal force of its title character. And Olive—brash, nosy, resentful, empathetic, and petty—is one character who lingers long after the book is through. Elizabeth Strout reveals in this interview how a class in stand-up comedy helped her as a writer. Interview with Elizabeth Strout regarding "Olive Kitteridge" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, April 20, 2008. 00:58:16 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/elizabeth_strout.mp3 Sun, 7 Sep 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/aleksandar_hemon2.mp3 For the final event of the fourth season (and the last broadcast from Lookingglass Theatre), Bosnian-born, MacArthur Prize-winning author Aleksandar Hemon returned to Writers on the Record for a second appearance and to talk about his novel The Lazarus Project. Inspired by an actual 1908 murder of a Jewish immigrant in Chicago, Hemon’s book interweaves two parallel stories that oscillate between past and present, Eastern Europe and the Midwest, and a mission of discovery for two fictional characters who are immigrants themselves. During the interview, Aleksandar Hemon explains his use of contemporary and historic photographs to augment the narrative. Interview with Aleksandar Hemon regarding "The Lazarus Project" recorded live at the Lookingglass Theater, May 18, 2008. 01:02:20 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/aleksandar_hemon2.mp3 Sun, 9 Nov 2008 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/junot_diaz.mp3 Junot Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2008, with his hilarious, touching, electrifying epic novel, The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Oscar being a Dominican-American Sci-Fi geek outcast whose family seems to be operating under a generations-old curse. This lively interview about that novel inaugurated the fifth season of Writers on the Record and its new partnership with the Chicago Public Library where, from the stage at the Harold Washington Library Center, Diaz touched on a range of topics in his typically feisty self-deprecating way, including the characters in Oscar Wao, his feelings about winning the Pulitzer, and his reluctance to discuss his personal life. Interview with Junot Diaz regarding "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, September 12, 2008. 01:00:13 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/junot_diaz.mp3 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/alaa_al_aswany.mp3 Egyptian author and journalist Alaa Al Aswany is the biggest-selling novelist in the Arab-speaking world. His earlier book, The Yacoubian Building, topped best-seller lists for several years, was translated into over twenty languages, and became a wildly successful film. In this interview, Cairo-based Al Aswany talks about his latest work, Chicago: A Novel, set in and around the University of Illinois and tracking a group of Egyptians, Americans, and their intertwined relationships. As with all Al Aswany's writing, race, class, sex and politics— infused with a palpable disdain for the regime of Hosni Mubarek (present, but never named)—informs the complicated, compelling situations. Interview with Alaa Al Aswany regarding "Chicago: A Novel" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, October 26, 2008. 01:02:23 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/alaa_al_aswany.mp3 Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/david_wroblewski.mp3 David Wroblewski spent ten years writing his first novel, and then hit pay-dirt when it became an phenomenal best-seller and was also chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle centers on a family that raises very special dogs, with fourteen-year old Edgar—born mute, communicating by sign language—coming of age in an idyllic farm setting in rural Wisconsin. Tragedy strikes, and Edgar must flee to fight for his life until he can uncover the terrible truth about his father's death. In this interview David Wroblewski talks about how he combined elements of Shakespeare, ghost stories, The Jungle Book, and epic melodramas to create his intensely moving narrative. Interview with David Wroblewski regarding "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, November 17, 2008. 01:01:37 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/david_wroblewski.mp3 Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/barry_unsworth.mp3 Acclaimed British author Barry Unsworth not only won the Booker Prize (for Sacred Hunger in 1992) but two more of his distinguished historical novels been short-listed over the years. In Land of Marvels, he revisits a period previously explored in Pascali's Island: the tumultuous end of the Ottoman Empire. Set in 1914 Mesopotamia during the build-up to WWI, the story centers on a fantastic discovery by a British archeologist. But the ancient historical treasure he unearths is threatened by present day progress, namely, the search for oil, and the encroaching Baghdad Railway. Expertly combining historical facts with elements of compelling fiction, Land of Marvels is part thriller, part melodrama, and utterly mesmerizing. Barry Unsworth talks about his long career, his life in the Italian countryside, and why politics are at the core of his work. Interview with Barry Unsworth regarding "Land of Marvels" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, January 25, 2009. 01:02:10 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/barry_unsworth.mp3 Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/manil_suri.mp3 Manil Suri's tremendously successful first novel, The Death of Vishnu, launched an entirely new and parallel career for the Bombay-born mathematician, a tenured professor at the University of Maryland. Following it up with The Age of Shiva, Suri continues to examine post-Colonial India, mining the social, religious and political upheavals that unfolded in an epic, twenty-five year span. Meera - the flawed, obstinate, and passionate narrator - marries a man below her level in class and education, and told through her eyes, The Age of Shiva presents history as a backdrop to her complicated, fascinating life. Among other topics, Manil Suri talks about his dual professions, growing up gay in India, and the research undertaken to create an accurate portrayal of a very devoted mother. Interview with Manil Suri regarding "The Age of Shiva" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, February 10, 2009. 01:03:39 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/manil_suri.mp3 Sun, 17 May 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jay_mcinerney_2.mp3 Jay McInerney's iconic debut novel, Bright Lights, Big City, inaugurated a literary career that has now arced through three decades, seven novels, dozens of short stories, and several collections of wine essays. As a chronicler of contemporary society, fraught relationships, and personal vulnerabilities (all of which were, in his own life, chronicled in hundreds of gossips columns), McInerney is as insightful as he is witty, his stories frequently inspired by actual people, events, and occasionally headlines. This collection of twenty-six stories, How It Ended, spans his entire life as a published writer, starting with pieces he wrote while still a student. It's Jay McInerney's second interview for Writers on the Record, and he is, once again, thoughtful, funny, and open about his inspirations. Interview with Jay McInerney regarding "How It Ended" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, April 16, 2009. 01:04:01 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jay_mcinerney_2.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/eric_bogosian.mp3 Award-winning actor, playwright, and author Eric Bogosian might be best known for his TV roles (Law and Order: Criminal Intent), his award-winning plays (Talk Radio; subUrbia) or his seminal one-man performances (Drinking in America; Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll) but he continues to write fiction "on the side". Perforated Heart, his third novel, features the wildly narcissistic Richard Morris, an aging, embittered writer whose stellar career is sputtering. Morris stumbles upon a cache of decades-old diaries from his early years in rollicking 1970's Manhattan, which provides a fascinating counterpoint to the present day, and also parallels Eric Bogosian's own experiences from that drug-infused, sexually-capricious, avant-garde-establishing era. Which he discusses in this interview. Quite openly! Interview with Eric Bogosian regarding "Perforated Heart" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, May 24, 2009. 01:01:54 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/eric_bogosian.mp3 Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/monica_ali.mp3 Bangladeshi-born, London-based author Monica Ali garnered international attention when her very first novel, Brick Lane, was nominated for the Booker prize in 2003. Like that compelling story, In The Kitchen also takes place in London but this time set in an up-and-coming hotel restaurant, roiling with immigrant workers from a dozen countries. Chef Gabriel Lightfoot runs the show - that is, until an impoverished porter turns up dead in the hotel basement. As Lightfoot's life and career unravel, readers tour the complex reality of contemporary England, a international melting pot that offers salvation to some and horror to others. Interview with Monica Ali regarding "In The Kitchen" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, June 21, 2009. 01:02:24 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/monica_ali.mp3 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/richard_russo.mp3 Richard Russo captured the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Empire Falls, then went on to write the teleplay for HBO's lauded adaptation. But his seventh novel, That Old Cape Magic, is a departure of sorts, set in upscale east coast enclaves rather than the dying small towns fans have come to anticipate. Protagonist Jack Griffin is having an epic mid-life crisis despite a successful thirty-five year marriage, and he contemplates - hilariously and poignantly - his own eccentric parents, their failed union, his youthful plans, and his unknown future. In his interview, Richard Russo talks expansively (and also hilariously) about how the book intersects and departs from his own life. Interview with Richard Russo regarding "That Old Cape Magic" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, September 29, 2009. 01:02:24 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/richard_russo.mp3 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/audrey_niffenegger.mp3 Artist and author Audrey Niffenegger became a publishing sensation in 2003 with her dark romance, The Time Traveler’s Wife: it sold millions of copies in dozens of languages and then became a Hollywood movie. Then her fans waited six long years for novel #2, Her Fearful Symmetry, another supernatural tale of love and identity, this time set in London. When young American twins inherit their aunt’s apartment abutting Highgate cemetery, they move in for a year and find themselves surrounded by some eccentric characters, only one of which is their aunt’s ghost. Niffenegger’s love of detail, her own devotion to Highgate cemetery (where she became a part-time guide) and smartly-written dialogue keeps the story moving along to an alarming – and creepy – conclusion. Interview with Audrey Niffenegger regarding "Her Fearful Symmetry" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, November 29, 2009. 01:01:39 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/audrey_niffenegger.mp3 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/ha_jin.mp3 Chinese-born novelist and poet Ha Jin won the National Book Award in 1999 for Waiting, a tremendous feat considering it – and all his work - wasn’t written in his native tongue: while attending Brandeis university in 1989, Ha Jin (a pen name for Jin Xuefei) decided to remain in the United States following the Tiananmen Square massacre, and chose to write only in English. A Good Fall is his fourth story collection, and set in Flushing, New York, which boasts a large, vibrant Chinese community. These twelve compelling tales pit one generation against another, old values against new, and contrasts the desire for Western prosperity with the dire challenges, dislocation, and loneliness of newly-arrived immigrants. Interview with Ha Jin regarding "A Good Fall" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, January 14, 2010. 01:00:13 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/ha_jin.mp3 Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/wells_tower.mp3 The buzz surrounding Wells Tower’s first book of short stories was so deafening, the praise so universal, that Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned sold out within two weeks of publication in 2009, and was named one of the top fiction book of the year by dozens of reviewers publications. The collection of nine intense stories is packed with a startling spectrum of emotion, mayhem, disappointments, and—always—humor. Morally-disheveled characters (from philanderers to pedophiles to marauding Vikings), cheesy surroundings (rural carnivals and barely-livable homes), fraught situations (violent confrontations and disastrous hunting expeditions), and painful experiences (all of the above) are carefully observed through the prism of Tower’s eccentrically poetic viewpoint. In this interview, Wells Tower talks about his sudden celebrity, his writing process, and a hilarious travel experience with his father and brother. Interview with Wells Tower regarding "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, February 14, 2010. 01:01:13 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/wells_tower.mp3 Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/mary_gaitskill_2009.mp3 Mary Gaitskill’s 1988 debut story collection Bad Behavior, placed her firmly on the literary radar, and her subsequent novels and story collections continued to earn her accolades. Following up on the success of Veronica from 2005, this group of tales peers into the lives, thoughts, flaws, vices, and tangled relationships of various men and women. Whether narrating a desperate baby adoption amidst a chaotic uprising or imagining the metaphysical outcome of a one-night stand, Gaitskill’s observations are devastating and often profound. This interview was somewhat tricky. Interview with Mary Gaitskill regarding "Don't Cry" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, March 29, 2009. 01:02:23 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/mary_gaitskill_2009.mp3 Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/lionel_shriver.mp3 American-born, London-based author Lionel Shriver (who changed her name at age fifteen from Margaret Ann) nearly gave up writing after her first seven novels barely sold. But she won the prestigious Orange Prize and international fame with her eighth novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin (about the mother of a teenaged mass-murderer) and followed it up with another best-seller, The Post-Birthday World. Unafraid to tackle emotional topics others might find unthinkable, Shriver is as witty as she is insightful, and she’s at her best in So Much For That. What happens when a marriage must endure catastrophic illness, and how much IS a human life worth anyway? Shriver’s timely, topical tale of two families and the effect of the American health care system on their lives and futures is both poignant, amusing, shocking, and all too true for too many people. In this rollicking interview, Lionel Shriver is as feisty as the characters she dreams up. Interview with Lionel Shriver regarding "So Much for That" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, March 14, 2010. 01:01:24 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/lionel_shriver.mp3 Sun, 2 May 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/peter_carey_2010.mp3 Peter Carey’s second appearance at Writers on the Record was to talk about his eleventh novel, Parrot and Olivier in America, a historical tour-de-force inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville’s actual journey to our new, young democracy in the early 18th century. De Tocquevilles’s stand-in is the French aristocrat Olivier Jean Baptiste de Clarel Barfleur who is forced to flee post-Revolutionary Paris, armed only with a vague plan to study American penal systems. But accompanying him into exile is an older British servant who has been contracted to look out for the snobby, effete Olivier. The personal histories and tortured relationship of these two opposing men - who loathe each other equally – is what enlivens this poignant, hilarious, and insightful epic. The dialogues and personalities encountered are pure Peter Carey, always entertaining. Interview with Peter Carey regarding "Parrot and Olivier in America" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, April 25, 2010. 01:02:08 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/peter_carey_2010.mp3 Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:01:00 -0600 http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jane_smiley.mp3 Whether imagining contemporary society or the distant past, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Jane Smiley’s ability to synthesize earlier authors and literary forms makes her a uniquely versatile author. She’s to reinvented ancient Norse sagas (The Greenlanders), reinterpreted Shakespeare’s King Lear (1000 Acres), and updated Boccaccio’s Decameron into an erotic Hollywood fable (Ten Days in the Hills), while satirizing Midwestern university life (Moo) and immersing readers in the racing world (Horse Heaven). Private Life begins in rural Missouri circa 1880 and winds up in Northern California during WWII, an epic historical span that focuses on small-town girl Margaret Mayfield and her unfortunate marriage to an eccentric scientist. In this spirited interview, Jane Smiley talks about her family members on whom Private Life is based. Interview with Jane Smiley regarding "Private Life" recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center, May 23, 2010. 00:59:42 Victoria Lautman http://www.victorialautman.com/media/jane_smiley.mp3