M.T. Anderson is the author of Feed, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, as well as The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, which won the National Book Award. Whether it’s crafting a dystopian future, writing vampire fiction, or, in the case of his latest book, Symphony for the City of the Dead, chronicling the life of the composer Dmitri Shostakovitch, his books are meticulously researched and vividly told.

I first met Tobin (his middle name) when he came over with my friend Peter this past September to watch the eclipse…or  the SUPER Moon. The three of us sat and talked in my front yard in an old wicker couch until it collapsed, and the conversation carried on horizontally from there. We talked about astronomy, about words we hate (slacks, homemade) and what we were like in high school. It was the kind of voracious conversation you have with a brand new friend.

We got together recently at my house to talk about his new book Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad.  We also talked about….other things. His writing habits, God, demonic possession, and middle age. A little something for everyone.

Welcome.

Credits:

Music by Noveller, of the Free Music Archive

Thanks to Tally Abecassis for her thoughts on this show. If you haven’t listened to her podcast, First Day Back, I recommend you check it out. Cuz it’s great. Also thanks to Colin Dickerman.

Links to Tobin’s work and articles about his illustrious career:

Click here for Symphony for the City of the Dead

Click here for Feed

Click here for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

M.T. Anderson’s blog

Profile in The Washington Post

Interview about Feed in Boing Boing