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

Train (Doubleday)

Pete Dexter

Edward P. Jones

The Fortress of Solitude (Doubleday)

Jonathan Lethem

Where the Stress Falls (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Where does the stress fall in the life of a writer-intellectual? Susan Sontag examines the difference between exploring the interior of a subject and exploring the interior of the explorer...

Where the Stress Falls (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)Where does the stress fall in the life of a writer-intellectual? Susan Sontag examines the difference between exploring the interior of a subject and exploring the interior of the explorer...

Where the Stress Falls (Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux) Where does the stress fall in the life of a writer-intellectual? Susan Sontag examines the difference between exploring the interior of a subject and exploring the interior of the explorer...

Susan Sontag

Where I Was From (Knopf)
Joan Didion takes deadly aim at the dream of California embodied, for example, in her own first novel, Run River. As she takes a more discerning look, she discovers even less innocence, less altruism than the early settlers could have imagined.

Where I Was From (Knopf) Joan Didion takes deadly aim at the dream of California embodied, for example, in her own first novel, Run River. As she takes a more discerning look, she discovers even less innocence, less altruism than the early settlers could have imagined.

Joan Didion

And Now You Can Go (Knopf) and How to Breathe Underwater  (Vintage)

And Now You Can Go (Knopf) and How to Breathe Underwater (Vintage)

And Now You Can Go (Knopf) and How to Breathe Underwater&nbsp; (Vintage)

Vendela Vida and Julie Orringer

Chuck Palahniuk takes on some rather aggressive questions about American culture and the artist...

Chuck Palahniuk takes on some rather aggressive questions about American culture and the artist...

Chuck Palahniuk: Diary

Jelly Roll (a blues) (Knopf); Blues Poems (Everyman's Library)
Kevin Young, who has edited a terrific anthology of blues poetry, uses blues traditions as the basis for his own recent work...

Jelly Roll (a blues) (Knopf); Blues Poems (Everyman's Library) Kevin Young, who has edited a terrific anthology of blues poetry, uses blues traditions as the basis for his own recent work...

Kevin Young

Gazelle  (Knopf)  Where will the magical Rikki Ducornet take us next?  In Gazelle, the Arabian Nights recur, as a thirteen -year-old girl wanders in 1950's Cairo, reveling in the scents and exotic perfumes that lead to her unusual career as an anatomist of mummies. Ducornet leads us deeper into the realm of the senses than ever before. (Note: This interview will be pre-empted on KCRW by special programming.)

Gazelle (Knopf) Where will the magical Rikki Ducornet take us next? In Gazelle, the Arabian Nights recur, as a thirteen -year-old girl wanders in 1950's Cairo, reveling in the scents and exotic perfumes that lead to her unusual career as an anatomist of mummies. Ducornet leads us deeper into the realm of the senses than ever before. (Note: This interview will be pre-empted on KCRW by special programming.)

Rikki Ducornet

The Dead Circus  (Atlantic Monthly Press)  John Kaye grew up in Los Angeles. His novel, The Dead Circus, is set in that city and delves beneath the surface of the classic L.A. noir thriller.  What effect does all this dread and anomie have on the real people who actually live in the City of Angels?

The Dead Circus (Atlantic Monthly Press) John Kaye grew up in Los Angeles. His novel, The Dead Circus, is set in that city and delves beneath the surface of the classic L.A. noir thriller. What effect does all this dread and anomie have on the real people who actually live in the City of Angels?

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