Richard Price has a hit with his novel "Lush Life." It's a crime story, but Price says his book has nothing to do with detective fiction or any other genre.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Robert Gordon talks with Steve Paulson about Muddy Waters and his music, placing him at the crux of the blues and rock.
Joan Didion, who died last week at the age of 87, helped shape a highly personal brand of nonfiction that came to be known as the New Journalism. Her early essay collections "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" (1968) and "The White Album" (1979) influenced generations of writers. Her later memoirs, "The Year of Magical Thinking" and "Blue Nights," chronicled the deaths of her husband and daughter. In 2011 Didion talked with Steve Paulson about illness and growing old in the wake of the death of her daughter, Quintana.
Mark Connelly tells Steve Paulson that Christmas gives people the same kind of emotional satisfaction they seek from the movies, so it’s a perfect match.
Karen Russell talks about her debut novel, "Swamplandia!," which focuses on a family-operated gator wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades.
Karen Russell's "Swamplandia!" page on Random House's website
Poet Lisa Russ Spaar tells Jim about her book “Acquainted with the Night” - an anthology of verse about insomnia, or written by insomniacs.
Celtic historian John Matthews tells Steve Paulson that Merlin probably was a real person and that wizards are related to our ancient shamans.
Author Kevin Henkes reads his favorite children's book, "Lucky Song".
Pages
