To the Best of Our Knowledge

PROMO       3/25/07 "The Debut Novel"
*William Faulkner, Earnest Hemingway, Virginia Wolfe: they were unknown
writers at some point. But, who are the world's next literary lions? In
this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the young writer. Well talk
with the next generation of novelists about to come into their own. And,
a re-debut, if you will. The story of the recent rediscovery of the 1939
novel, "Ask the Dust." 

PROGRAM RUNDOWN:   "The Debut Novel" 

0:01 - 09:08        SEGMENT 1: (9:09)
            Daniel Alarcon is from Peru and the author of "Lost City
            Radio," a fable about a nameless country broken in the
            aftermath of war and the woman who does a radio program
            for the families of the disappeared. Alarcon tells Steve
            Paulson he was thinking of Lima, but wanted to create a
            city that could be anywhere. And he reads from his book. 
            
            Segment One Outcue: "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

09:09 - 09:38       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

09:39 - 28:59       SEGMENT 2: (19:21)
            Sara Gruen tells Anne Strainchamps why she chose an
            elephant as a main character for her story of love,
            avarice and power.  It's called "Water for Elephants" and
            has a happy ending.  And Sara Gruen reads bit. Also, Jan
            Louter is a Dutch film director.  The PBS series
            Independent Lens just aired his piece "A Sad Flower in
            the Sand" about novelist John Fante. Fante wrote a 1939
            novel called "Ask the Dust" which became a best-seller
            and a film over 60 years later.  Louter talks about Fante 
            with Steve Paulson, and we hear excerpts from the Dutch
            film. 
            
            Segment Two Outcue: "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

29:00 - 29:29       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

29:30 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (23:30)
            Steven Hall's debut novel is called "The Raw Shark
            Texts."  Hall reads from the books opening, and talks
            with Jim Fleming.  Also, Uzodinma Iweala lives in America
            but his parents are Nigerian.  His novel "Beasts of No
            Nation" is told from the perspective of Agu, a child
            soldier in an unnamed African war. Iweala tells Jim
            Fleming how he researched the lives of child soldiers. 
            
            Segment Three Outcue:  PRI Audio Logo


For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
3-25-B.