Longtime friend and editor of Bookworm, Alan Howard, returns to host this episode, the last of 10 shows to journey through Bookworm’s 33 years and offer a retrospective look at Michael’s accomplishments on behalf of writers and readers. For decades Michael has read almost all of a writer’s work, not just the book which has been most recently published. Howard has watched writers glow as they realize that they’ve been seriously witnessed by the ultimate Bookworm. All of the writers on today’s show have become friends of Michael’s and of Bookworm. We’ll hear from rock band Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael), Art Spiegelman, Françoise Mouly, Ann Beattie, Susan Sontag, and Dennis Cooper.

Longtime friend and editor of Bookworm, Alan Howard, returns to host this episode, the last of 10 shows to journey through Bookworm’s 33 years and offer a retrospective look at Michael’s accomplishments on behalf of writers and readers. For decades Michael has read almost all of a writer’s work, not just the book which has been most recently published. Howard has watched writers glow as they realize that they’ve been seriously witnessed by the ultimate Bookworm. All of the writers on today’s show have become friends of Michael’s and of Bookworm. We’ll hear from rock band Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael), Art Spiegelman, Françoise Mouly, Ann Beattie, Susan Sontag, and Dennis Cooper.

Longtime friend and editor of Bookworm, Alan Howard, returns to host this episode, the last of 10 shows to journey through Bookworm’s 33 years and offer a retrospective look at Michael’s accomplishments on behalf of writers and readers. For decades Michael has read almost all of a writer’s work, not just the book which has been most recently published. Howard has watched writers glow as they realize that they’ve been seriously witnessed by the ultimate Bookworm. All of the&nbsp;writers on today’s show have become friends of Michael’s and of Bookworm. We’ll hear from rock band Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael), Art Spiegelman, Françoise Mouly, Ann Beattie, Susan Sontag, and Dennis Cooper.

Friends of Michael

Acclaimed novelist, poet, and essayist <a href="https://www.taolin.us">Tao Lin</a> (“Taipei,” “Shoplifting from American Apparel”) speaks about growing as a writer, and growing his idea of himself in a book, including his latest, “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547887/leave-society-by-tao-lin/">Leave Society</a>,” about the blurred lines between life and fiction.

Acclaimed novelist, poet, and essayist Tao Lin (“Taipei,” “Shoplifting from American Apparel”) speaks about growing as a writer, and growing his idea of himself in a book, including his latest, “Leave Society,” about the blurred lines between life and fiction.

Acclaimed novelist, poet, and essayist <a href="https://www.taolin.us" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tao Lin</a> (“Taipei,” “Shoplifting from American Apparel”) speaks about growing as a writer, and growing his idea of himself in a book, including his latest, “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547887/leave-society-by-tao-lin/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Leave Society</a>,” about the blurred lines between life and fiction.&nbsp;

Tao Lin’s ‘Leave Society’ shifts the author’s perspective to love and kindness

Author Zac Smith speaks about the extreme juxtaposition of the very short, dense, and clipped stories in his new book, “Everything is Totally Fine.” He says that by removing a lot of exposition, he was able to create intense emotions in a small space. His energetic and thoughtful stories of absurdity and minutiae are things that could not be said any other way, and usually don’t get said. Plus, special guest Tao Lin explains why “Everything is Totally Fine” inspired him to reopen his <a href="http://muumuuhouse.com/about.html">Muumuu House</a> imprint after it was closed for more than ten years.

Author Zac Smith speaks about the extreme juxtaposition of the very short, dense, and clipped stories in his new book, “Everything is Totally Fine.” He says that by removing a lot of exposition, he was able to create intense emotions in a small space. His energetic and thoughtful stories of absurdity and minutiae are things that could not be said any other way, and usually don’t get said. Plus, special guest Tao Lin explains why “Everything is Totally Fine” inspired him to reopen his Muumuu House imprint after it was closed for more than ten years.

Author Zac Smith speaks about the extreme juxtaposition of the very short, dense, and clipped stories in his new book, “Everything is Totally Fine.” He says that by removing a lot of exposition, he was able to create intense emotions in a small space. His energetic and thoughtful stories of absurdity and minutiae are things that could not be said any other way, and usually don’t get said. Plus, special guest Tao Lin explains why “Everything is Totally Fine” inspired him to reopen his <a href="http://muumuuhouse.com/about.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Muumuu House</a> imprint after it was closed for more than ten years.

Zac Smith’s ‘Everything is Totally Fine,’ the book that reopened Tao Lin’s Muumuu House

The Hazards of Good Breeding  (Norton)  Jessica Shattuck skewers the narrow-minded prejudices of the Boston aristocracy.  How did Shattuck, the daughter of a liberal lawyer and niece of a prominent literary critic, find the tenderness and insight necessary to give her characters human depth?

The Hazards of Good Breeding (Norton) Jessica Shattuck skewers the narrow-minded prejudices of the Boston aristocracy. How did Shattuck, the daughter of a liberal lawyer and niece of a prominent literary critic, find the tenderness and insight necessary to give her characters human depth?

Jessica Shattuck

This remarkable anthology presents a picture of what the American essay is, and what, with any luck, it may become.

This remarkable anthology presents a picture of what the American essay is, and what, with any luck, it may become.

This remarkable anthology presents a picture of what the American essay is, and what, with any luck, it may become.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

John D'Agata: The Next American Essay

Pattern Recognition (Putnam)
William Gibson, the inventor of cyber-punk, says that his new novel, though set in the future, is realistic...

Pattern Recognition (Putnam) William Gibson, the inventor of cyber-punk, says that his new novel, though set in the future, is realistic...

William Gibson

The Spooky Art
 (Random House)
Norman Mailer, the lion at eighty, stayed lair-bound long enough to assemble this collection of his thoughts about writing..

The Spooky Art (Random House) Norman Mailer, the lion at eighty, stayed lair-bound long enough to assemble this collection of his thoughts about writing..

Norman Mailer

For the first time, Louise Erdrich writes about the European side of her heritage. Her new novel is about the confrontation of German and Native American cultures in North Dakota between World Wars...

For the first time, Louise Erdrich writes about the European side of her heritage. Her new novel is about the confrontation of German and Native American cultures in North Dakota between World Wars...

Louise Erdrich: The Master Butchers Singing Club

I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company (Viking)  Brian Hall-s novel of Lewis and Clark turns the extraordinary expedition upside down to find its dark underside-the ignorance, racism and despair at the heart of the American wilderness adventure.

I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company (Viking) Brian Hall-s novel of Lewis and Clark turns the extraordinary expedition upside down to find its dark underside-the ignorance, racism and despair at the heart of the American wilderness adventure.

Brian Hall

A Whistling Woman (Knopf) In the second of this two-part interview, Dame Byatt talks about the interaction of chance and design in her newly completed quartet.

A Whistling Woman (Knopf)In the second of this two-part interview, Dame Byatt talks about the interaction of chance and design in her newly completed quartet.

A Whistling Woman (Knopf) In the second of this two-part interview, Dame Byatt talks about the interaction of chance and design in her newly completed quartet.

A. S. Byatt (Part II)

A Whistling Woman (Knopf) Dame Antonia Byatt began a quartet of novels twenty years ago with The Virgin in the Garden. She completes this huge project with A Whistling Woman.

A Whistling Woman (Knopf)Dame Antonia Byatt began a quartet of novels twenty years ago with The Virgin in the Garden. She completes this huge project with A Whistling Woman.

A Whistling Woman (Knopf) Dame Antonia Byatt began a quartet of novels twenty years ago with The Virgin in the Garden. She completes this huge project with A Whistling Woman.

A. S. Byatt (Part I)

A wild and beautiful writer, Geoff Dyer goes to Rome where he "basically did nothing all day"....

A wild and beautiful writer, Geoff Dyer goes to Rome where he "basically did nothing all day"....

Geoff Dyer: Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It

Dancer (Metropolitan)
Colum McCann deserts the working-class backgrounds of his Irish novels to write a fictional life of Rudolph Nureyev. He invents a dancing prose style-floating, glittering, suspended in bright air. We discover how the subject, Nureyev, taught McCann a new way to write.

Dancer (Metropolitan) Colum McCann deserts the working-class backgrounds of his Irish novels to write a fictional life of Rudolph Nureyev. He invents a dancing prose style-floating, glittering, suspended in bright air. We discover how the subject, Nureyev, taught McCann a new way to write.

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