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

All Around Atlantis 
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
This unusual writer, who takes a full year to complete each story, has completed seven -- enough to fill her third book.

All Around Atlantis (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) This unusual writer, who takes a full year to complete each story, has completed seven -- enough to fill her third book.

All Around Atlantis 
(Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux)
This unusual writer, who takes a full year to complete each story, has completed seven -- enough to fill her third book.

Deborah Eisenberg

The Runaway SoulTwo interviews: Brodkey discuses life, literature and his new novel.

Harold Brodkey Part 2

This final book of Edmund White's trilogy about gay life in New York provides gossip, tragedy and, of course, brilliant writing.

This final book of Edmund White's trilogy about gay life in New York provides gossip, tragedy and, of course, brilliant writing.

This final book of Edmund White's trilogy about gay life in New York provides gossip, tragedy and, of course, brilliant writing.&nbsp;

Edmund White: The Farewell Symphony

Cal Bedient, Candy Necklace (Wesleyan) This book, the poet's first, comes as the culmination of years of criticism and teaching. Here, an in-depth discussion of one poem leads to a conversation about modernism, metaphor and madness.

Cal Bedient

Blood Lake (Boaz) Jim Krusoe's stories locate us between an episodic and choppy daily life and an interior world of unimaginably constant anxiety. How does this acrobat of comedy and anguish maintain his balance?

Blood Lake (Boaz)Jim Krusoe's stories locate us between an episodic and choppy daily life and an interior world of unimaginably constant anxiety. How does this acrobat of comedy and anguish maintain his balance?

Blood Lake (Boaz) Jim Krusoe's stories locate us between an episodic and choppy daily life and an interior world of unimaginably constant anxiety. How does this acrobat of comedy and anguish maintain his balance?

Jim Krusoe

The Gettin'Place (Anchor) Susan Straight, chronicler of the underclass, can be counted on for rich character delineation and lots of atmosphere. In The Gettin Place, She faces the demands of a complex plot. Can she tell a story?

The Gettin'Place (Anchor)Susan Straight, chronicler of the underclass, can be counted on for rich character delineation and lots of atmosphere. In The Gettin Place, She faces the demands of a complex plot. Can she tell a story?

The Gettin'Place (Anchor) Susan Straight, chronicler of the underclass, can be counted on for rich character delineation and lots of atmosphere. In The Gettin Place, She faces the demands of a complex plot. Can she tell a story?

Susan Straight

Helen Vendler The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets (Harvard) Surprising and accessible, Vendler, one of America's most respected critics, separates the lovelorn Shakespeare who appears in the sonnets from the masterful poet who wrote them.

Helen Vendler

A Regular Guy (Vintage)
The search for family in Mona Simpson's novels is nearly a sacred quest...

A Regular Guy (Vintage) The search for family in Mona Simpson's novels is nearly a sacred quest...

Mona Simpson

The God of Small Things (Random House) Arundhati Roy talks about the price of success in India's literary circles - and about the "small; things" that compensate for disaster.

Arundhati Roy

Round Rock (Knopf) Michelle Huneven brings the worldly realism of John Steinbeck up to date in a new novel: a story of growth, compassion and knowledge.

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