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 Museum Guard
 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Howard Norman has won awards for his extraordinary, quiet fiction, but he has rarely discussed its meanings...

The Museum Guard (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Howard Norman has won awards for his extraordinary, quiet fiction, but he has rarely discussed its meanings...

The Museum Guard
 (Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux)
Howard Norman has won awards for his extraordinary, quiet fiction, but he has rarely discussed its meanings...

Howard Norman

The Letters of Mina Hacher (Hard Press)
Post-modern feminism! Deconstructed Gothic horror! A character from Bram Stoker's Dracula meets the San Francisco literary scene...

The Letters of Mina Hacher (Hard Press) Post-modern feminism! Deconstructed Gothic horror! A character from Bram Stoker's Dracula meets the San Francisco literary scene...

The Letters of Mina Hacher (Hard Press)
Post-modern feminism! Deconstructed Gothic horror! A character from Bram Stoker's Dracula meets the San Francisco literary scene...
&nbsp;

Dodie Bellamy

Andrea Barrett, author of The Voyage of the Narwhal (Norton). An Arctic expedition provides the setting for a confrontation between a reticent man of science and a raging egoist.

Andrea Barrett

Michael Byers, author of The Coast of Good Intentions (Houghton Mifflin). This young short-story writer makes a really impressive debut.  A look at his landscape (Washington state's coastline) and his influences ("steal; from the best").

Michael Byers, author of The Coast of Good Intentions (Houghton Mifflin). This young short-story writer makes a really impressive debut. A look at his landscape (Washington state's coastline) and his influences ("steal; from the best").

Michael Byers

This month, at 87, Czeslaw Milosz sees the publication of his newest book, A Roadside Dog. (Part four of four)

This month, at 87, Czeslaw Milosz sees the publication of his newest book, A Roadside Dog. (Part four of four)

This month, at 87, Czeslaw Milosz sees the publication of his newest book, A Roadside Dog.&nbsp;(Part four of four)

A Month of Milosz: Old Age and Influence

The Captive Mind and the move to California.  (Part three of four)

The Captive Mind and the move to California. (Part three of four)

The Captive Mind and the move to California. &nbsp;(Part three of four)

A Month of Milosz: Post-War

Genocide, war and the destruction of his homeland bring a dark vision into Czeslaw Milosz's poetry. (Part two of four)

Genocide, war and the destruction of his homeland bring a dark vision into Czeslaw Milosz's poetry. (Part two of four)

A Month of Milosz: Young Adulthood

Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz's memories of childhood make for a poetry of ecstasy and initiation. (Part one of four)

Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz's memories of childhood make for a poetry of ecstasy and initiation. (Part one of four)

A Month of Milosz: Introduction and Childhood

Karen Elizabeth Gordon, author of Torn Wings and Faux Pas (Pantheon) . The uniquely crazy lexicographer discusses her fairy-tale dictionary-explosion novels.

Karen Elizabeth Gordon

In this exclusive interview on the subject of her classic novel Beloved (Knopf), Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison discusses areas of the writer's imagination that can't be captured by the film.

In this exclusive interview on the subject of her classic novel Beloved (Knopf), Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison discusses areas of the writer's imagination that can't be captured by the film.

Share Bookworm

Sign up to save your podcasts

Bookworm

Bookworm episodes

About Bookworm

More shows like Bookworm

The New Yorker: Fiction

The New Yorker: Poetry

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

The LRB Podcast

Left, Right & Center

Free Thinking

Nocturne

The Treatment

The Business

Good Food

Today's Top Tune

Backlisted

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

London Review Bookshop Podcast

The History of Literature

Bookclub

The TLS Podcast

Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature)

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The Paris Review

Lost Notes: Groupies

Bodies

City Arts & Lectures

Close Readings