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LITERARY LIVES
To The Best of Our Knowledge
from Wisconsin Public Radio
Robert Olen Butler had a crazy idea. The Pulitzer
Prize-winning novelist wanted to show how writers really work. So
he created his own web site, pointed a camera at his word processor,
and wrote...every night for three weeks. Believe it or not, thousands
of people tuned in for the these webcasts. In this hour of To
the Best of Our Knowledge, the literary life
SEGMENT 1:
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Steve Paulson visits award-winning
children's book author Paula Fox at her New York
brownstone. Fox has just written a highly acclaimed memoir,
"Borrowed Finery." And her early novels for adults
are being re-issued. We also hear admiring comments from
author Jonathan Franzen (remember the Oprah's Book
Club flap about "The Corrections"?) and popular
children's book author Kevin Henkes (he's the reason
why your little girl wants a purple plastic purse).
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SEGMENT 2:
| Novelist Jane Smiley ("Moo"
and "Horse Heaven") wrote the biography of Charles
Dickens for the Penguin "Lives" series. She tells
Jim Fleming Dickens had extraordinary energy and vitality,
and by writing sympathetically about the poor and working
class, he changed English literature forever. Also, Matthew
Klamm ("Sam the Cat and Other Stories",) Thisbe
Nissen ("The Good People of New York",) and
Emma Richler ("Sister Crazy") talk with Steve
Paulson about the lives of young writers and how their attitudes
towards love, the opposite sex and friendship differ from
those of their parents' generation. |
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SEGMENT 3:
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Robert Olen Butler
is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist. He tells Jim Fleming
about his Internet project. For several days, Butler had
a video camera trained on his desk and invited people to
watch him write on-line. Butler says the Internet will create
new art forms, and reflects on the meaning of September
11th. Also, Edward Hirsch, author of "How To
Read A Poem" and five books of verse, has now written
"The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source
of Artistic Inspiration." He tells Anne Strainchamps
that the best artists have "duende" - a kind of
creative imp that puts them in touch with human emotional
experience. He says you can't control it. You just do your
best and hope for the best.
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Cassette copies are available
at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 02-08-11-B.
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Books:
- Robert Olen Butler, Fair Warning
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
- Paula Fox, Borrowed Finery: a memoir
(Henry Holt)
- Edward Hirsch, The Demon and The Angel:
Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration (Harcourt)
- Matthew Klam, Sam the Cat and Other Stories
(Knopf)
- Thisbe Nissen, The Good People of New
York (Knopf)
- Emma Richler, Sister Crazy (Anchor
Books)
- Jane Smiley, Charles Dickens (Penguin
Lives)
Music:
- Inside and after Paula Fox:
Various movements from Beethoven Piano Sonatas No. 16 in G major,
Op. 31 #1 and 17 in d minor, Op. 31 #2 performed by Stephen Kovacevich
on EMI
- After Smiley:
"So Flute" from Tourist, performed by St. Germain on
Blue note
- After 3 writers:
"La Vie en Rose" from Louis Armstrong on Priceless Jazz
- After Butler:
K.B.'s Alley from Blowout Comb by Digital Planets on Pendulum
- After Hirsch:
"Muse Blues" from Album III by Loudon Wainwright on
Columbia
- Close music:
"The Sermon" from Finest Hour by Jimmie Smith on Verve
Distribution dates:
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Questions and comments can
be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org
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