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

Eduardo Galeano has written a history of the world in brief chapters, each one devoted to an iconic incident...

Eduardo Galeano has written a history of the world in brief chapters, each one devoted to an iconic incident...

Eduardo Galeano: Mirrors

Erased  (Tin House Books) 
In this wild and woolly conversation, Jim Krusoe reveals that
his zany, unpredictable, hilarity-inspiring novels are, well,
descriptions of the human condition (at least as how he sees it).

Erased (Tin House Books) In this wild and woolly conversation, Jim Krusoe reveals that his zany, unpredictable, hilarity-inspiring novels are, well, descriptions of the human condition (at least as how he sees it).

Erased&nbsp; (Tin House Books) 
In this wild and woolly conversation, Jim Krusoe reveals that
his zany, unpredictable, hilarity-inspiring novels are, well,
descriptions of the human condition (at least as how he sees it).

Jim Krusoe

Manatee /Humanity (Penguin Poets) 
Anne Waldman guides us through this book-length poetry-and-prose
meditation on endangered species by describing an initiation ceremony
designed to instill a deeper sense of compassion....

Manatee /Humanity (Penguin Poets) Anne Waldman guides us through this book-length poetry-and-prose meditation on endangered species by describing an initiation ceremony designed to instill a deeper sense of compassion....

Manatee /Humanity (Penguin Poets) 
Anne Waldman guides us through this book-length poetry-and-prose
meditation on endangered species by describing an initiation ceremony
designed to instill a deeper sense of compassion....

Anne Waldman

Lowboy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 
John Wray's novel about a schizophrenic boy's quest for sex
and/or love flirts violently with the thriller form...

Lowboy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) John Wray's novel about a schizophrenic boy's quest for sex and/or love flirts violently with the thriller form...

Lowboy (Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux) 
John Wray's novel about a schizophrenic boy's quest for sex
and/or love flirts violently with the thriller form...

John Wray

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 
Wells Tower is the most talked-about new story writer to emerge on the
literary scene. This conversation focuses on the weird details he uses
to illuminate a mostly conventional narrative arc...

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Wells Tower is the most talked-about new story writer to emerge on the literary scene. This conversation focuses on the weird details he uses to illuminate a mostly conventional narrative arc...

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux) 
Wells Tower is the most talked-about new story writer to emerge on the
literary scene. This conversation focuses on the weird details he uses
to illuminate a mostly conventional narrative arc...

Wells Tower

Modern Life (Graywolf Press) 
Like dangerous toys or perilous amusement park rides, Matthea Harvey's
poems careen into the unknown...

Modern Life (Graywolf Press) Like dangerous toys or perilous amusement park rides, Matthea Harvey's poems careen into the unknown...

Modern Life (Graywolf Press) 
Like dangerous toys or perilous amusement park rides, Matthea Harvey's
poems careen into the unknown...

Matthea Harvey

While we take a mini-tour of Flannery O'Connor's life and writing, biographer Brad Gooch describes his difficulties in gaining access to the author's inner life.

While we take a mini-tour of Flannery O'Connor's life and writing, biographer Brad Gooch describes his difficulties in gaining access to the author's inner life.

Brad Gooch: Flannery

All-American Poem (American Poetry Review) Kate Tufts Discovery Award-winner Matthew Dickman writes emotional and accessible poetry...

All-American Poem (American Poetry Review)Kate Tufts Discovery Award-winner Matthew Dickman writes emotional and accessible poetry...

All-American Poem (American Poetry Review) Kate Tufts Discovery Award-winner Matthew Dickman writes emotional and accessible poetry...

Matthew Dickman

Geoff Dyer on the secrets that structure his new novel (which might, on the surface, seem like two novellas)....

Geoff Dyer on the secrets that structure his new novel (which might, on the surface, seem like two novellas)....

Geoff Dyer: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Don’t Cry (Pantheon) The extraordinary levels of empathy and sadness in Mary Gaitskill’s new stories provide the basis for this intense discussion of the emotional subtexts of her fiction.

Don’t Cry (Pantheon)The extraordinary levels of empathy and sadness in Mary Gaitskill’s new stories provide the basis for this intense discussion of the emotional subtexts of her fiction.

Don’t Cry (Pantheon) The extraordinary levels of empathy and sadness in Mary Gaitskill’s new stories provide the basis for this intense discussion of the emotional subtexts of her fiction.

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