Such a great pleasure to have Steve Almond on the show. His new story collection, God Bless America, is due out from Lookout Books on October 25th. Lorrie Moore calls it “funny and beguiling and completely original.”
Wanna buy it now? Go straight to the publisher.
And of course it’ll be available where books are sold on 10/25.
Steve is a great talker, has a great brain, writes beautifully.
We cover a lotta ground.
Topics of conversation include: communes, Jennifer Egan, too much television, nauseating self-doubt, anxiousness over books one hasn’t read, the absurdity of continuing to write even though writing is often miserable, high class problems, the scarcity of attention, Charles Dickens, hamsters eating carrots, the god-awful guilt one feels when one realizes that one is complaining about the difficulty of writing in a world where most people don’t have access to potable water, the phrase “God Bless America,” Kurt Vonnegut, Don DeLillo, and more.
Listen here. Listen via Stitcher. Or subscribe at iTunes. It’s all free.
PS. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Email me: letters@otherpeoplepod.com
Writing success: “It’s mostly talent.”
It reminds me of what V.S. Naipaul said to Paul Theroux, something like, “The writing game is a good game because it is ultimately fair.”
Just wanted to say this is a really good podcast — not just this one, but in general, The Other People. Have you alongside Real Time with Bill Maher while pecking away in my cubicle from 8-5.
thanks, jeffro! appreciate it, man.
Almond = strong moral center.
indeed.
Pingback: Dispatches: Steve Almond, Breaking Hearts at Greenlight « the contextual life
Brad? So you’re not a Bradley?
Brad David Listi
B.D. Listi
My brother’s name is Brad. But he’s a Bradley Jay.
I think the reason “Brad” gets a bad rap in the movies is just the way it doesn’t r0ll off the tongue. It sounds flat. It’s easy to put a whine into. Like Ralph.
Loving the podcasts!
Pingback: Interview with Brad Listi of the "Other People with Brad Listi" Podcast. | The Outlet: the Blog of Electric Literature
Pingback: In which I’m interviewed over at the Other People PodCast! « the divine miss pixie woods Cecil Castellucci