EPISODE 22 — DARIN STRAUSS

Darin Strauss is today’s guest. He is the author of three novels—Chang & Eng, The Real McCoy, and More Than It Hurts You. And his most recent book is a memoir called Half a Life (McSweeney’s) which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The New York Times Book Review calls it “…elegant, painful, [and] stunningly honest.”

And Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, says, “[Half a Life] is a searingly self-disciplined work of literature, and of self-examination…the impact is staggering and unforgettable.”

Plenty to talk about here.

Topics of conversation include: short books, Courier New, guilt, PTSD, the performative aspects of grief, auto-responders, subconscious motives, Dave Eggers, writing slowly, conjoined twins, Philip Roth, emoticons, David Lipsky, gestation periods, and the difference between history and memoir.

Please be sure to subscribe to the show over at iTunes, if you haven’t already done so. It’s free. Or, if you’re a Stitcher person, you can subscribe there, too.

Many thanks, and enjoy the show…

-BL

EPISODE 21 — JANET REITMAN

Janet Reitman is the guest. She is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine and the author of the bestselling Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion, recently named by the New York Times as one of its 100 Notable Books of 2011.

Inside Scientology originated as a story in Rolling Stone and was nominated for a National Magazine Award.

Reitman’s work has also appeared in GQ, Men’s Journal, The New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, and Salon, among other publications. She has also appeared on National Public Radio, Anderson Cooper 360, and Countdown with Keith Olberman. We get into it. A lot to talk about. Topics of conversation include: Scientology (duh), L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction, military service, hucksterism, religion, David Miscavige, Gold Base, yachts, hot pants, blowing, Rolling Stone, investigative reporting, Iraq, Tom Cruise, Jann S. Wenner, and collective shrugs.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show over at iTunes, if you haven’t done so already. It’s free. Or, if you’re a Stitcher person, you can subscribe there, too.

 Thanks, everybody.

-BL