Book Talk

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Judith Frank about where this book started for her ("it was going to begin with a terrorist attack and end with the day that gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts. I had a hunch that they might have something to say to each other"); writing from a child's point of view ("I knew I was going to be using my full vocabulary to be describing her thoughts"); and why she thought a book about gay men was more likely to sell than a book about lesbians ("It's just sexism. Men still count as universal human subjects [but] lesbians . . . can't stand for larger humanity the way that men can, and the way that men always have"); guest readers Amy Vatner and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss language and loss, fears and forgiveness, and scars and survival.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Susan Perabo about the ways this novel is and isn't about an abduction ("it's about this family, it's about coming of age, it's about motherhood); about her choice to leave us with an ending full of questions; and about "the things we allow ourselves to do that put distance between us and the people that we love;" guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss futility and hope, profound acts of courage and kindness, and what it means to "get out of the way."

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Jami Attenberg about writing in the second person, playing with non-linear narratives, and what to make of readers who yell at you; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Deborah Cantrell join Oppenheimer to discuss the Eiffel Tower, change and sameness, and upending the marriage plot.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Julie Buntin about books that are about what it means to write a book, about the space between what happened and what you remember and how you tell it, and about the way remembering can be an act of love; guest readers Jessica Sager and Sam Purdy join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers and brothers, witnesses and bystanders, and strong girls, wielding knives.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author John Freeman Gill about the Bogardus Heist (a true-life architectural mystery), how his non-fiction writing mirrors his fiction, and what it was like to carry around the first 15 pages of his novel for 20 years before sitting down to write it; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss collections and connections, restoration and re-creation, and stealing, salvage, and salvation.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Laurie Frankel about how she managed to write so convincingly about life with five kids, which parts she ended up leaving out, and all the ways this novel is and isn't a metaphor; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss loss and gain, diagnosis and transformation, and princesses in towers.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Min Jin Lee about writing what you know versus writing what you don't, and what she sees at the heart of this novel ("It's about race, and refugees, and assimilation, but I think, above all, it's a book about survival"); guest readers Kate Kincaid and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss passing and identity, family and home, and whether, and how, it matters if history has failed us.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kayla Rae Whitaker about why she left so many questions unanswered and what, in the book, surprised even her; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers and daughters, journeys and rebirth, and the powers and dangers of stories.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Reed Karaim about choosing to begin at the end, how to revise, and why he writes fiction in today's America; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Jennifer Eng join Oppenheimer to discuss fire and ice, oceans and buffalo, and tragedy and redemption.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Robin Sloan about unlearning how to write for the Internet ("I still catch myself rushing, hurrying, getting nervous that a section’s going to go on too long”) and reading with Google open on the side ("it makes my brain light up and makes my heart glow, what an amazing, wonderful way to read"); guest readers Tui Sutherland and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss technology and tradition, fantasy and friendship, names and nighttime.