ABISH, WALTER
Reads "How the Comb Gives a Fresh Meaning to the Hair" and "Crossing
the Great Void" (short stories). Skillful and witty performance. 70
min.
Order#: 4011 ISBN: 092-8 Price: $13.95
ACHEBE, CHINUA
Reads from ARROW OF GOD and ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH. Arguably Africa's
greatest living writer gives a flawless demonstration of the subtleties
and enormous range of his precise prose. 88 min.
Order#: 8011 ISBN: 283-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. Wide ranging talk of his life, work and career. Achebe
explains what is uniquely African, or at least non-Western, in his viewpoint
regarding the role of the artist in his community and the function of art.
85 min.
Order# 8012 ISBN: 284-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 8013 ISBN: 285-8 Price: $25.00
ADAMS, ALICE
Reads two stories, "The Swastika on Our Door," and "Molly's Dog"
"Adams' reading is effective, clear and well paced, giving a sample of
her range in creating believable situations and distinctive characters"
(Choice). 68 min.
Order#: 7011 ISBN: 174-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. "A relaxed, comfortable discussion, gives much insight into
Adams' life and work" (Choice). "Adams' decades-long struggle to
get into print emerges as one of the most heartwarming of writers' stories"
(San Francisco Chronicle). 49 min.
Order#: 7012 ISBN: 175-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7013 ISBN: 176-2 Price: $25.00
ALPERT, CATHRYN
Reads from ROCKET CITY. This playful reading covers more than three
chapters of CATHRYN ALPERT's picaresque first novel, a Barnes and Noble
Discovery Selection. This is fiction that appeals both to the ironist
and to the romantic. Set in the Southwest, ROCKET CITY deftly combines
satire, some savvy modern mythmaking, and ingenious philosophical dialogue
with a poignant, straightforward love story.
90 min. 1 cassette
Order# 15011 ISBN 408-7 price $13.95
Interview. CATHRYN ALPERT made the decision to write fiction after
a successful career as a stage director and professor of theatre arts.
This interview is an especially clear portrait of the process of writing
a first novel and the experiences and ideas that go into it. In addition,
the interview illuminates part of the philosophical foundation for the
comedy in ROCKET CITY.
60 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 15012 ISBN 409-5 price $13.95
Reading and Interview set
Order# 15013 ISBN 410-9 price $25.00
ANAYA, RUDOLFO
Reads from BLESS ME ULTIMA and LA TORTUGA. 51 minutes.
Order#: 2011 ISBN: 034-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Covers Anaya's place in the Chicano tradition and
the small press success story surrounding publication of BLESS ME ULTIMA,
now widely available in the "mainstream" press. 53 minutes.
Order#: 2812 ISBN: 035-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2013 ISBN: 201-7 Price: $25.00
ATWOOD, MARGARET
Reads "Unearthing Suite" (short story). "In her marvelous deadpan voice,
Atwood narrates [this] story of two industrious and eccentric parents viewed
with more-or-less affectionate irony by their grown-up child. Three stars."
(Los Angeles Magazine) 45 min.
Order#: 3011 ISBN: 062-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. Covers Atwood's Canadian nationalism, feminism, and themes
and craft of individual novels and short stories. Conducted by Jan Castro.
56 min.
Order# 3012 ISBN: 063-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3013 ISBN: 202-5 Price: $25.00
BALDWIN, JAMES
Reads from JUST ABOVE MY HEAD. Marvelous reading performance from
his novel about a tragic gospel singer (reminiscent of the late Sam Cooke)
and his relationship with his brother/manager. 47 min.
Order# 4021 ISBN: 093-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. ". . . the listener can feel his meditative mind at work, recasting
perceptions in search of truth" (Library Journal). 56 min.
Order#: 4022 ISBN: 094-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 4023: ISBN: 203-3 Price: $25.00
BALLANTYNE, SHEILA
Reads "Perpetual Care" and "Flaubert in Miami Beach" (short stories); from
her acclaimed collection LIFE ON EARTH. 68 min.
Order#: 8021 ISBN: 286-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. O. Henry Prize-winner Ballantyne discusses the relationship
of fiction to autobiography, and talks at length about her emergence as
an artist after many years of traditional wife and motherhood, a process
not unlike the wildly humorous mixture of cosmic speculation and gritty
domestic realism that characterizes her popular novel, NORMA JEAN THE TERMITE
QUEEN. 57 min.
Order# 8022 ISBN: 287-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: ISBN: 288-2 Price: $25.00
BAMBARA, TONI CADE
Reads "The Organizer's Wife" (short story). "Deals with a young rural
black woman, whose marriage to a local social activist brings her to a
clearer sense of self and belonging" (Library Journal). 52 min.
Order#: 2021 ISBN: 036-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Touches many bases: Bambara's origins, work habits, views
on children...publishing and writing, especially her refusal to 'use' real
people. Bambara's oeuvre is still relatively small and underexposed, and
this set makes a good introduction" (Library Journal). 58 min.
Order#: 2022 ISBN: 037-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2023 ISBN: 204-1 Price: $25.00
BANKS, RUSSELL
Reads from CONTINENTAL DRIFT. 63 min.
Order#: 6011 ISBN: 147-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Thorough discussion of Banks' social and aesthetic visions and
the relationship between the two, plus central questions of craft. 73 min.
Order#: 6012 ISBN: 148-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6013 ISBN: 205-X Price: $25.00
BAROLINI, HELEN
Reads from UMBERTINA. Novel documents the Italian immigrant experience
in America. 56 min.
Order#: 3021 ISBN: 064-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. Issues surrounding the concept of ethnic literature
and its place in the larger American tradition, and problems peculiar to
her particular choice of subject matter. 55 min.
Order#: 3022 ISBN: 065-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 3023 ISBN: 206-8 Price: $25.00
BEATTIE, ANN
Reads "Learning to Fall," "Desire," "Snow," and "Skeletons." "Four
Stars!" (Los Angeles Magazine). 58 min.
Order#: 7021 ISBN: 177-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Both tapes are an entertaining record of a contemporary
master storyteller and should be in all general libraries (Choice). 57
min.
Order#: 7022 ISBN: 178-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7023 ISBN: 179-7 Price $25.00
BLOUNT, ROY, JR.
Reads from CRACKERS and ONE FELL SOUP. Widely published and extremely popular
author reads several humorous essays. 58 min.
Order#: 3031 ISBN: 066-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Discussion of tradition of American humor, "making it" in
the free-lance market, and Blount's place in the Southern renaissance in
parajournalism. 52 min.
Order# 3032 ISBN: 067-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 3033 ISBN: 207-6 Price: $25.00
BOGOSIAN, ERIC
Reads selections from NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND, and nine monologues from
DRINKING IN AMERICA, FUNHOUSE, POUNDING NAILS IN THE FLOOR WITH MY FOREHEAD,
and THE ESSENTIAL BOGOSIAN.
Three time Obie award winning monologist and actor ERIC BOGOSIAN
is also one of our most distinguished playwrights, author of TALK RADIO
(made into a film by Oliver Stone), THE NEW WORLD, SUBURBIA, and GRILLER,
still in progress at the time of this recording (July 1996).
Listeners familiar with BOGOSIAN as performer will find him at the top
of his form in this performance, and for those who are new to his work,
this is a perfect introduction. Monologues included are "Ceramic
Tile," "Godhead," "The Pacer," "Shining Star" (inspired by one of novelist
Robert Stone's characters from A FLAG FOR SUNRISE), "The Glass," "The Recovering
Male," "Inner Baby," "Great Bunch a Guys," and "Little Dog."
Reading
90 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 16011 ISBN 417-6 price $13.95
Interview. We found Eric Bogosian to be a perceptive, warm person
who is passionate about books and writing. Although his writing career
began in the 1970's performance art heyday of Manhattan's Soho district,
Bogisian's artistic roots lie in the written word. His work is content
driven -- "my stance in the world is confusion seeking some kind of wisdom."
BOGOSIAN composes primarily on the page, and the monologues follow "a rhythm
of ideas," along with patterns of speech: "I've always felt the machinery
behind what I was making was kind of sophisticated, but I didn't want it
to look sophisticated." And because of his astonishingly acute ear
for the vernacular, BOGOSIAN comments that some actors "mess around with"
his lines, not realizing that he wants "each one said exactly the way that
it's written."
Ultimately, however, BOGOSIAN's goal is to create empathy, and
in his plays "to generate performance," by creating "excuses for
actors to chew some scenery and to bounce around out there, because that
will be the ultimate manifestion of the piece."
60 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 16012 ISBN 418-4 price $13.95
Reading and Interview set
Order# 16013 ISBN 419-2 price $25.00
"Best known for his role in the Oliver Stone film version of his
own stage play, TALK RADIO, Bogosian is complemented by an interview with
Kay Bonetti. The interview presents insights into Bogosian's work
and life, writing career, performance art, passion for reading and the
written text, and approach to plays, all leading to a richer understanding
of a writer who has his pulse on urbane, hip metropolitan life. This
is a fascinating glimpse into the life and work of a unique American artist"
-- LIBRARY JOURNAL/May 15, 1997.
BOYLE, KAY
Reads from THE CRAZY HUNTER and "A Declaration for 1955" (complete
essay). 56 min.
Order#: 5011 ISBN: 122-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Fascinating discussion with two time O. Henry Award winner,
one of the venerable denizens of the expatriate scene in Paris during the
20's and 30's. 49 min.
Order#: 5012 ISBN: 123-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 5013 ISBN: 208-4 Price: $25.00
BRADLEY, DAVID
Reads from THE CHANEYSVILLE INCIDENT. Winner of the 1982 PEN/Faulkner Award.
This highly complex historical mystery novel is told in several voices,
and here Bradley reads one of Old Jack's stories, about a time in their
youth when he and Moses Washington rescued their best friend Josh White
from a lynch mob; and, in John Washington's voice, the story of Old Jack's
funeral. Two cassettes, 104 minutes.
Order# 12011 ISBN: 372-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. A rigorous conversation tempered by Bradley's enthusiasm
for writing and his wit. Includes talk about the limiting effects
of race on how he is perceived as a writer as he argues that there simply
is no such thing as The Black Experience, or The Black Novel. 80 minutes.
Order#: 12012 ISBN: 373-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 12013 ISBN: 374-9 Price: $25.00
BROWN, LARRY
Reads from DIRTY WORK and JOE. These readings evoke a place, a time, and
a people with the quiet authority and compassion that perceptive readers
have come to expect from the best in Southern fiction.
DIRTY WORK, BROWN's first novel, consists
of two interwoven, parallel monologues spoken by two veterans of the Vietnam
War -- one black, one white, both disabled. They share not only a
room in a veteran's hospital, but also a heritage of Southern manners and
working-class values that was undermined when they were called upon to
do their country's Dirty Work.
JOE takes the reader into the hardwood forests of Mississippi
to meet Gary and Joe. Gary is a boy struggling to overcome the burden
of almost unimaginable rural poverty and ignorance. Joe is a kind
but haunted and alcoholic working man, trying to summon the courage to
displace the boy's abusive father and be a role model for a functional,
adult, male life.
80 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 15021 ISBN 411-7 price $13.95
Interview. In a voice that seems to hang in the air like hickory
smoke, LARRY BROWN talks with Kay Bonetti about his life as a fireman in
Oxford, Mississippi; his love of the state's hardwood forests;
and the lessons and struggles of becoming a writer of literary fiction
with little formal training.
LARRY BROWN discusses the background for JOE
and his hopes for the novel's effect on it's readers. He also describes
how his Marine Corps background and his memories of his father gave him
the material for DIRTY WORK, and talks about some of the ethical and religious
questions raised by the novel.
This is an interview that communicates the sheer fun of composing
fiction as well as its trials and frustrations. LARRY BROWN's conversation
both reflects and reflects upon the culture and the place that have fed
his fiction and his ambitions to create fiction.
90 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 15022 ISBN 412-5 price $13.95
READING AND INTERVIEW SET
Order# 15023 ISBN 413-3 price $25.00
"This is one of the best in AAPL's fine series of readings and interviews.
. . . Brown's readings from two of his novels will spur listeners to explore
his work more deeply, which is precisely what the series is meant to do.
. . . The plain, blunt prose and the idiomatic speech. . . inform both
these stories with a compelling and believable sense of place, character,
and atmosphere [the rural south]. The fine interview with Kay Bonetti,
more personally engaging than Brown's written memoir [ON FIRE], is a superb
exploration of the struggle by which a would-be writer makes a professional
reality out of a dream. Highly recommended." -- Library Journal
BROWN, ROSELLEN
Reads "A Letter to Ishmael in the Grave" (short story) and from AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF MY MOTHER. Brown's "terse, poetic language plunges us into her
characters" (Library Journal). 61 min.
Order#: 2031 ISBN: 038-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Contains thoughts on her central themes, the women's movement,
TENDER MERCIES, and the elusive process of creating a world out of words"
(Library Journal). 85 min.
Order#: 2032 ISBN: 039-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 2033 ISBN: 209-2 Price $25.00
BUTLER, ROBERT OLEN
Reads five stories from A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN. Butler's
training as an actor is evident in this polished reading performance from
his 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning collection.
The stories he has chosen to read range in mood from the slyly
comic to the openly spiritual. The female protagonist of "Mr. Green"
confronts her grandfather's stifling influence in the form of a parrot
with the dead man's voice. In "The Trip Back," a man who considers
himself incapable of poetry conceives of the perfect healing gesture when
his wife is confronted with loss. A bar girl in a New Orleans strip
joint finds the love of her life in "Fairy Tale." Voodoo mixed with
jealousy casts a comic spell on a married couple in "Love." The ghost
of Ho Chi Minh appears to an old man spending his last few days on earth
in "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain." A movie based on these
five stories is currently in development by IXTLAN, Oliver Stone's production
company. Butler is writing the screenplay.
180 min. 2 cassettes
Order# 14011 ISBN 398-6 price $13.95
Interview. Listeners curious about how and why fiction is produced
will be especially fascinated with ROBERT OLEN BUTLER's comments.
With rare openness and gusto, he explains how he draws on his unconscious
sensory memory to bring into being the moment-to-moment realization of
character central to the experience of fiction. He traces his development
from actor to playwright to novelist in light of this quest for fiction
as an authentically sensual experience.
58 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 14012 ISBN 399-4 price $13.95
READING AND INTERVIEW SET
Order# 14013 ISBN 400-1 price $25.00
CALDWELL, ERSKINE
Reads "Handsome Brown and the Aggravating Goats" from GEORGIA BOY, and
the deeply perceptive love story "Warm River" (short stories). 53 min.
Order#: 3041 ISBN: 068-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. A delightful, wide-ranging discussion about the life,
career, craft, and social vision of one of America's most controversial,
influential, ground-breaking, and fiercely independent writers. 58 min.
Order#: 3042 ISBN: 069-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3043 ISBN: 210-6 Price: $25.00
CALISHER, HORTENSE
Reads from HERSELF and MYSTERIES OF MOTION. 52 min.
Order#: 4031 ISBN: 095-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. Focusses on the scope of Calisher's long life and career,
including th ordeal of surviving the Great Depression by "mastering quick
expertises" now useful to her as a writer. 58 min.
Order#: 4032 ISBN: 096-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 4033 ISBN: 211-4 Price: $25.00
CAPUTO, PHILIP
Reads from INDIAN COUNTRY. This is a novel about the healing power
of love, and in a deeply felt reading performance, he narrates the concluding
chapters, in which Christian Starkmann, a Vietnam veteran who has been
suffering for years from post-traumatic stress disorder, begins to find
his way forward into mental and spiritual health. Two cassettes. 106 minutes.
Order# 8031 ISBN: 289-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. A vigorous, sensitive and articulate discussion of
Caputo's individual craft and vision, and of the writer's lot in general,
including topic of the war novel and the literature of Vietnam. 75 minutes.
Order# 8032 ISBN: 290-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 8033 ISBN: 291-2 Price: $25.00
CARVER, RAYMOND
Reads "Nobody Said Anything," "A Serious Talk," and "Fat" (short stories).
Vintage work from one of America's foremost writers. Nine of Carver's
stories were used as basis for the 1993 Robert Altman film, SHORT CUTS.
51 min.
Order# 3051 ISBN: 070-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. "A stimulating introduction to Carver's work" (Library Journal).
Carver died from lung cancer in 1988. This interview took place midway
into his final ten years of sobriety, widespread recognition, and personal
happiness with writer Tess Gallagher. 51 minutes.
Order#: 3052 ISBN: 071-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set. Only available recordings of Carver's
voice.
Order# 3053 ISBN: 212-2 Price: $25.00
CASSILL, R.V.
Reads "The Castration of Harry Bluethorn" (short story). Black humor
at its best in a rural Iowa setting. 36 min.
Order# 1011 ISBN: 001-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. Founder of the Iowa Writer's Workshop talks about his use
of Midwest roots in his short stories and unofficial censorship in the
American literary establishment. 57 min.
Order#: 1012 ISBN: 002-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 1013 ISBN: 213-0 Price: $25.00
CHARYN, JEROME
Reads from SECRET ISAAC. One of a series of novels centered on Isaac
Sidel, a Manhattan police inspector who is also a James Joyce fanatic.
30 minutes.
Order#: 1021 ISBN: 003-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Discussion of Charyn's novels about Isaac Sidel
and the author's use of street language and pop culture in his fiction.
59 min.
Order#: 1022 ISBN: 004-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1023 ISBN: 214-9 Price: $25.00
CHERRY, KELLY
Reads "Where the Winged Horses Take Off into the Wild Blue Yonder From"
(short story). Lyrical and meditative love story, inspired by her years
long frustrated love affair with a Russian musician. 53 min.
Order#: 1031 ISBN: 005-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. Highlights Cherry's fiction and its philosophical
stance, plus her use of autobiographical elements in the above story. 51
min.
Order#: 1032 ISBN: 006-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1033 ISBN: 215-7 Price: $25.00
CONROY, JACK
Reading from THE DISINHERITED and Interview. Selections from the
classic novel of the Great Depression vividly depict the world of manual
labor for men, women and children of that time. Interview covers Conroy's
career as editor of three highly influential left-wing literary journals
during the 30s, including the story of the Partisan Review takeover of
The Anvil. Reading and interview on one cassette. 64 min.
Order# 1043 ISBN: 007-3 Price: $15.95
COOVER, ROBERT
Reads "Beginnings," "The Brother" and "The Door" (short stories).
One of our finest practitioners of experimental prose reads with equal
grace and skill. 57 minutes.
Order#: 1051 ISBN: 008-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. Contains good material on the threat of libel in relation
to the history of the publication of THE PUBLIC BURNING. 52 min.
Order#: 1052 ISBN: 009-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 1053 ISBN: 216-5 Price: $25.00
COSTELLO, MARK
Reads from SOYBEAN CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. The further adventures of
Michael Murphy, protagonist of THE MURPHY STORIES. 46 minutes.
Order#: 2041 ISBN: 040-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. 51 min.
Order#: 2042 ISBN: 041-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 2043 ISBN: 217-3 Price: $25.00
CREWS, HARRY
Reads from A CHILDHOOD: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A PLACE. This episode of
hog-butchering time and a tragic childhood accident won a Pushcart Prize.
40 min.
Order#: 2051 ISBN: 042-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Crews speaks of his family's nomadic lifestyle, the
uniqueness of the South, and his uneasiness in being classified as a peculiarly
Southern writer. . . . An intriguing interview" (Library Journal).
59 min.
Order#: 2052 ISBN: 043-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2053 ISBN: 218-1 Price: $25.00
CRUMLEY, JAMES
Reads from THE LAST GOOD KISS (ch. 1 & 8). You can hear the sound
of narrator C. W. Sughrue's South Texas roots, his "motel dreams and whiskey
visions," in Jim Crumley's husky drawl, perfect for his delightful reading
performance from this much admired detective novel, which has as one of
its main characters an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts.
69 min.
Order#: 12021 ISBN: 375-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. Crumley describes himself as a writer in love with words,
and we found him to be a hard nosed but good natured professional, with
a wry sense of humor: "I'd rather be wrong than edited!" "Interviewer Bonetti
does an excellent job of drawing the author out on his background and his
approach to fiction." (LA Daily News) 63 min.
Order#: 12022 ISBN: 376-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order# 12023 ISBN: 377-3 Price: $25.00
CURREY, RICHARD
Reads from FATAL LIGHT; "Believer's Flood" and "The Wars of Heaven"
(short stories). First class reading performance from one of our finest
Vietnam era writers. The two short stories have a strong sense of
regional detail, reflecting Currey's West Virginia roots. 74 min.
Order#: 11011 ISBN: 359-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. Currey talks candidly about his attempts to "achieve the
compression, the velocity, the intensity of poetry, with the narrative
satisfaction of fiction." 60 min.
Order#: 11012 ISBN: 360-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 11013 ISBN: 361-7 Price: $25.00
DAWKINS, CECIL
"The Quiet Enemy" (short story). One of our finest and most under-appreciated
writers reads the title story from her first collection of short fiction.
51 min.
Order#: 3061 ISBN: 171-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. Includes talk of her long friendship with Flannery
O'Connor. 57 min.
Order#: 3062 ISBN: 172-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3063 ISBN: 219-X Price: $25.00
DEW, ROBB FORMAN
Reads from THE TIME OF HER LIFE. ". . . of interest to readers of
novels focusing on character development in a family setting and to college
students studying the contemporary novel." (Booklist) 33 min.
Order#: 4041 ISBN: 097-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Author of THE FAMILY HEART discusses her Southern roots
and the effect of her family life, background, and the "sense of place"
on her career and work. 58 min.
Order#: 4042 ISBN: 098-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4043 ISBN: 220-3 Price: $25.00
DILLARD, ANNIE
Reads "Total Eclipse" (narrative essay), from TEACHING A STONE TO TALK.
Dillard reads "with a brusque Pennsylvania contralto that tells you much
about herself and even more about the creative process." (San Francisco
Review of Books) 38 min.
Order#: 9011 ISBN: 322-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. In this provocative discussion, Dillard insists that she is
a "composer of texts," as opposed to a revealer of self. Dillard
confesses for instance that she originally wanted to write PILGRIM AT TINKER
CREEK as though she were a man writing, but was dissuaded from doing so
by her editors. 47 min.
Order#: 9012 ISBN: 323-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 9013 ISBN: 324-2 Price: $25.00
DOCTOROW, E. L.
Reads "The Writer in the Family" and "The Leather Man" (short stories).
From LIVES OF THE POETS: A NOVELLA AND SIX STORIES. "Doctorow's language
and characters become dear to listeners." (Booklist) 47 min.
Order#: 10011 ISBN: 348-X Price: $13.95
Interview. Doctorow provides a lively, informative overview of his work.
35 min.
Order#: 10012 ISBN: 349-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 10013 ISBN: 350-1 Price: $25.00
DREAM BOOK
This anthology of writings by Italian-American
women has been praised by Alice Walker as "a book of heroic recovery
and affirmation." There are nine selections on this recording, each of
them set in context with commentary from editor Helen Barolini. 30 min.
Order#: 10041 ISBN: 357-9 Price: $13.95
DUBUS, ANDRE
Reads "A Father's Story" (short story). "The listener is swept away to
another life, so vividly and engagingly does Dubus read" (Booklist). 59
min.
Order#: 4051 ISBN: 099-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. MacArthur Fellow "Dubus engages in a long, engrossing and ultimately
very moving dialogue about his life, his work and his themes. Five stars!"
(Los Angeles Magazine) 81 minutes.
Order#: 4052 ISBN: 100-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4053 ISBN: 221-2 Price: $25.00
ELKIN, STANLEY
Reads THE LIVING END (excerpt). Virtuoso performance of the entire "Conventional
Wisdom" section. "Elkin is a shrewd observer of life, whose stories reflect
a particular interest in language and masterful way with words" (Booklist).
73 min.
Order#: 1061 ISBN: 010-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Full of Elkin's wit and wisdom on a variety of topics concerning
the teaching and craft of writing, with marvelous anecdotes. Conducted
by Lyn Ballard. 66 min.
Order#: 1062 ISBN: 011-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1063 ISBN: 222-X Price: $25.00
ERDRICH, LOUISE
Reads LOVE MEDICINE ("Scales" section) and THE BEET QUEEN (excerpts).
These two selections chronicle the interlocking stories of the Beet Queen,
Wallacette "Dot" Adare, and her husband Gerry Nanapush, the Native American
"trickster" hero-escape artist of Erdrich's fictional world. 81 min.
Order#: 6021 ISBN: 149-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. Fascinating and most unusual discussion including Michael Dorris,
Erdrich's late husband and collaborator. Although the actual words
on the page are Erdrich's, they work out of a unified "vision" based on
their shared backgrounds as mixed-blood Native Americans. 50 min.
Order#: 6022 ISBN: 150-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6023 ISBN: 223-8 Price: $25.00
FORD, RICHARD
THE SPORTSWRITER (first chapter) and "Rock Springs" (short story). 89 min.
Progtagonist of Ford's Pulitzer Prize winning novel INDEPENDENCE DAY is
narrator of THE SPORTSWRITER and in this chapter we learn of the break
up of his marriage following the death of his son from Rhy's Syndrome.
Order#: 6031 ISBN: 151-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. Pulitzer Prize winner Ford reveals himself to be a man
deeply committed to his work, but never at the expense of a rich and rewarding
personal life, which he believes to be the necessary foundation for everything
he does. 55 min.
Order#: 6032 ISBN: 152-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6033 ISBN: 224-6 Price: $25.00
FOX, PAULA
Reads from THE WIDOW'S CHILDREN and A SERVANT'S TALE and "The Rooster Who
Could Not See Enough of Himself," (short story) from THE LITTLE SWINEHERD.
Winner of the Newberry Medal for THE SLAVE DANCER is also one of our most
gifted "adult" novelists. 66 min.
Order#: 6041 ISBN: 153-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Refreshingly candid and deeply intelligent conversation
with this warm and wise novelist, who writes with grace, skill, and subtlety
of perception both for adults and young readers. 58 min.
Order#: 6042 ISBN: 154-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6043 ISBN: 225-4 Price: $25.00
GAINES, ERNEST
Reads from A GATHERING OF OLD MEN. 1993 National Book Critics Circle
Award winner brings four spicy Bayou Country voices to life--Snookum, Janey,
Miss Merle, and Rufe--in an exceptional performance which also vivifies
the musical influences in Gaines' unique style. 52 min.
Order#: 6051 ISBN: 155-X Price: $13.95
Interview. The author of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN discusses
his conscious attention to questions of form, including the use of traditional
Black musical elements and influences from the classical tradition. 49
min.
Order#: 6052 ISBN: 156-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6053 ISBN: 226-2 Price: $25.00
GALLAGHER, TESS
READS Prose and Poetry from THE LOVER OF HORSES, AMPLITUDE, PORTABLE KISSES,
and MOON CROSSING BRIDGE.
TESS GALLAGHER's warm voice alternately comforts and challenges
as she draws the listener into her meditations on love, loss, and regeneration.
Gallagher reads three short stories -- "The Lover of Horses," "Girl," and
"Creatures." Each creates a picture of inescapable human relationships
that both wound and heal, bind and liberate.
Gallagher also reads eight poems -- "Red Poppy,"
"Spacious Encounter," "Anniversary," and "Extrano" are from MOON CROSSING
BRIDGE, the collection Gallagher produced in reaction to the loss of her
husband, Raymond Carver. "The Son of Z," "Like the Sigh of Women's
Hair," and "Black Violets" are from PORTABLE KISSES. The widely anthologized
"Each Bird Walking" is from AMPLITUDE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS.
120 minutes 2 cassettes
Order# 14021 ISBN 401-X price $13.95
Interview. With warmth and humor, TESS GALLAGHER and Kay Bonetti
discuss Ms. Gallagher's distinguished career as a poet, her emergence as
a notable short story writer, and her marriage and working relationship
with the late Raymond Carver.
Tess Gallagher describes her apprenticeship to the art of poetry
and her belief that poetry portrays a reality beyond language. She
also talks about the collection of poetry Carver's death engendered --
MOON CROSSING BRIDGE -- and how their partnership influenced her
concept of storytelling. Along the way Gallagher shares anecdotes
about her relationship with director Robert Altman during the making of
SHORT CUTS, a film based on Carver's stories.
58 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 14022 ISBN 402-8 price $13.95
Reading and Interview Set
Order# 14023 ISBN 403-6 price $25.00
GARRETT, GEORGE
Reads from DEATH OF THE FOX and THE SUCCESSION "The reading,
reflecting the author's acute intelligence, curiosity, and imagination,
will persuade the listener to read the books" (Booklist). 55 min.
Order#: 4061 ISBN: 101-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. The author "expands on his curiosity about the Elizabethan
period. As he notes, there is a paucity of documentation for the
epoch, offering latitude for fictionalizing letters...Garrett saturates
himself with the material and then writes from memory; his discussion of
the inner voice participating in this process is very interesting" (Booklist).
76 min.
Order#: 4062 ISBN: 102-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4063 ISBN: 227-0 Price: $25.00
GASS, WILLIAM
Reads "The Old Folks" (short story) and from THE TUNNEL, his long awaited
holocaust novel, scheduled for publication in 1995. 54 min.
Order#: 1071 ISBN: 012-X Price: $13.95
Interview. A wide-ranging discussion of Gass' running debate with
John Gardner over the issue of "moral fiction," and THE TUNNEL, in progress
since 1965. 88 min.
Order#: 1072 ISBN: 013-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1073 ISBN: 228-9 Price: $25.00
GILCHRIST, ELLEN
Reads "Revenge" (short story). A fine performance of one of Gilchrist's
"Rhoda" stories, hilariously funny. 33 min.
Order#: 6061 ISBN: 157-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. Free-wheeling discussion of the whereabouts and doings of
Gilchrist's cast of characters, whose lives she merely transcribes. Gilchrist
also talks about her late blooming development as a writer and her lack
of regrets about same. 38 min.
Order#: 6062 ISBN: 158-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6063 ISBN: 229-7 Price: $25.00
GODWIN, GAIL
Reads "Dream Children" (short story), the deeply moving and disturbing
tale of a young woman who retreats into a nighttime world of astral
projection, where she is visited by the child she will never have.
41 min.
Order#: 6071 ISBN: 159-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. Bestselling author of A MOTHER AND TWO DAUGHTERS discusses the
recurring themes and aesthetic concerns which inform her novels and short
fiction, which often stand popular genres and convention on their heads.
56 min.
Order#: 6072 ISBN: 160-6 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6073 ISBN: 230-0 Price: $25.00
GORES, JOE
Reads from HAMMETT and "Goodbye Pops" (short story). "Goodbye Pops," about
the homecoming of an ex-con, brought Gores the first of his three Edgar's
from the Mystery Writers of America. 36 min.
Order#: 5111 ISBN: 144-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. Gores talks wiht Michael Barancik about his days as
a working detective and the mystique of Dashiell Hammett. "Gores speaking
about his days as a real-life private eye is more intriguing than a lot
of other authors' novels." (The Armchair Detective) 53 min.
Order#: 5112 ISBN: 145-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5113 ISBN: 231-9 Price: $25.00
GOYEN, WILLIAM
Reads "Ghost and Flesh, Water and Dirt," "Old Wildwood," and "Precious
Door" (short stories). 73 min.
Order#: 2061 ISBN: 044-8 Price: $13.95
Interview. Distinguished novelist, short story writer, and playwright
discusses his Texas roots and the strong sense of place in his fiction
with William Peden. 40 min.
Order#: 2062 ISBN: 045-6 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2063 ISBN: 232-7 Price: $25.00
GRAU, SHIRLEY ANN
Reads "Flight" from her collection NINE WOMEN. A deeply felt novella about
the life of an elderly woman in her last days. 62 min.
Order#: 9021 ISBN: 325-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Pulitzer Prize winner Shirley Ann Grau comes from a fascinating
and eccentric "old" southern family which she talks about in this conversation.
Grau prefers to talk about writing as technique, rather than "Art," feeling
that those kinds of issues are essentially mysterious to the writer.
58 min.
Order#: 9022 ISBN: 326-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 9023 ISBN: 237-7 Price: $25.00
GRUMBACH, DORIS
Reads from CHAMBER MUSIC, THE MISSING PERSON and THE LADIES. 74 min.
Order#: 4071 ISBN: 103-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. The warmth and wisdom of a vintage writer, long familiar
as well for her commentary on National Public radio. 84 min.
Order#: 4072 ISBN: 104-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4073 ISBN: 233-5 Price: $25.00
GUSEWELLE, CHARLES
Reads "Horst Wessel" (short story) and "Moonrise to Mourning" (memoir).
58 minutes.
Order#: 3071 ISBN: 072-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Distinguished Kansas City journalist and award-winning short
story writer discusses art of prose from unique perspective, including
cross influences of two differing genres. 58 min.
Order#: 3072 ISBN: 073-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3073 ISBN: 234-3 Price: $25.00
HAGEDORN, JESSICA
READS Prose and Poetry from DOGEATERS and DANGER AND BEAUTY.
JESSICA HAGEDORN reads five passages from DOGEATERS selected
to introduce listeners to the main characters of this vibrant and surrealistic
novel -- winner of the 1990 American Book Award -- portraying over three
decades of Filipino life. She also reads three poems from her collection
of poetry and short fiction, DANGER AND BEAUTY: "Souvenirs,"
"Song for My Father," and "The Song of Bullets."
From DOGEATERS, we meet Rio, a school girl just beginning to
understand how the mysteries of her family reflect the mysteries
of Manila; Rio's fashion obsessed mother; Joey, a disco
DJ and male prostitute; Daisy Avila, beauty contestant and future
guerilla; and the infamous First Lady herself, dreaming of afternoon
trysts with the Pope at the Waldorf Astoria.
68 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 14031 ISBN 404-4 price $13.95
Interview. Hagedorn is a Filipino-American novelist, poet,
editor and performance artist, finalist for the National Book Award and
winner of the American Book Award. Her life has taken her from a
childhood in Manila to the Bay Area poetry scene; and from new wave
Manhattan rock clubs like CBGB's to the mean streets of Manila under Marcos.
All of this experience is packed into a lively conversation with
Kay Bonetti. Along the way, Hagedorn champions a multicultural America
and defends the artist's right to refuse category or to be restricted to
a single medium with energy and charm, and without recourse to jargon or
dogma.
58 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 14032 ISBN 405-2 price $13.95
Reading and Interview Set.
Order# 14033 ISBN 406-0 price $25.00
"In all, an audio production of unusual depth and sensitivity." --
Publishers Weekly
HALL, JAMES B.
Reads "Getting Married" and "God Cares But Waits" (short stories). One
of America's most anthologized short story writers reads a "story of manners"
and an "extreme fiction." 86 min.
Order#: 1081 ISBN: 014-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. Good stories about the Iowa Writer's Workshop immediately
after WWII and some of Hall's famous classmates, like Flannery O'Connor.
51 min.
Order#: 1082 ISBN: 015-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1083 ISBN: 235-1 Price: $25.00
HARRIS, MARK
Maybe the world's greatest baseball novelist reads from BEST FATHER EVER
INVENTED, BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY, IT LOOKED LIKE FOREVER, SOMETHING ABOUT
A SOLDIER, and LYING IN BED (excerpts). 111 min.
Order#: 7031 ISBN: 180-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Harris talks about his life and how he transmutes
it into fiction, saying that all his narrators are in some way himself,
disguised. 86 min.
Order#: 7032 ISBN: 181-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7033 ISBN: 182-7 Price: $25.00
HARRISON, JIM
Reads from WOLF, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, FARMER, and SUNDOG. Delightful
reading and commentary by one of our most talented and interesting writers,
author of the screenplay for the 1994 Jack Nicholson film, WOLF. 58 min.
Order#: 4081 ISBN: 105-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Candid and freewheeling, this interview covers a variety
of Harrison's artistic concerns, including his response to critics who
dismiss him as a "macho" writer. Good discussion too on the difficulties
of managing one's life as a writer. 54 min.
Order#: 4082 ISBN: 106-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4083 ISBN: 236-X Price: $25.00
HEAT-MOON, WILLIAM LEAST
Reads BLUE HIGHWAYS (excerpts). Moon, whom Library Journal has called the
"Jack Kerouac of the 1980s" reads from this acclaimed account of his journey
along the back roads of America. 42 min.
Order#: 3101 ISBN: 083-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Conducted by Lyn Ballard. Discussion of origin and
struggle of BLUE HIGHWAYS, along with critical and reader response. 46
min.
Order#: 3102 ISBN: 084-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3103 ISBN: 254-8 Price: $25.00
HEINEMANN, LARRY
Reads the first chapter of PACO'S STORY, winner of the 1987 National Book
Award. An experienced actor, Heinemann reads with mesmerizing force:
"The slang, the lingo, the jive talk, and the banter of the combat troops
is convincingly recreated--and all of the hostility, fear, and confusion
bound in it haunts the chapter." (Small Press Book Review) 41 min.
Order#: 8041 ISBN: 298-X Price: $13.95
Interview. Heinemann eloquently discusses his aesthetic stance, which
is grounded in a commitment to bringing the principles of storytelling--of
working for the ear--to the written form. 78 min.
Order#: 8042 ISBN: 299-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 8043 ISBN: 300-5 Price: $25.00
HEMPEL, AMY
Reads "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried," "Nashville Gone to Ashes,"
"The Harvest," and "The Rest of God" (short stories). From REASONS TO LIVE
and AT THE GATES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Hempel is concerned with
resilience, and as her characters find their individual, often eccentric
"reasons to live" we are moved by their efforts to recover, the pain tempered
by Hempel's wacky sense of the absurd. 63 min.
Order#: 12031 ISBN: 378-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. With just two published volumes, Hempel is revered by
readers and other writers alike for her genuinely distinctive voice and
fictional territory. She tells of coming to fiction relatively late,
at 31, explaining that her 20's were full of accidents and deaths, and
says she thought of them as "the lost years" until she came to realize,
through writing, that they were serving as "research" for her fiction.
Conducted by Jo Sapp. 65 min.
Order#: 12032 ISBN: 379-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 12033 ISBN: 380-3 Price: $25.00
HENDRIE, LAURA
Reads from STYGO. This well received first novel won the Rosenthal
Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Mountains and
Plains Booksellers Association Regional Award, and was a finalist for the
1995 PEN/Hemingway Award for first fiction.
LAURA HENDRIE reads four chapters, each a self contained story.
STYGO is set in fictional Bent County, Colorado, owned for the most part
by the Red Rock Sugar Beet Company, where most of its citizens work.
"Armadillo," set at the Sweetwater Truck Stop, is the story that Hendrie
says formed the heart of the novel. Seventeen year old Reba Stiles
tells of her pet armadillo Jubilee and life with her father, left grief-ridden
and bitter after Reba's mother abandoned them, taking Reba's baby sister
Luce with her. "Arroyo" is set at the Jopa K Bar ranch.
After Pa Jopa's death in a riding accident, Becca fights for the soul of
her brother Brice, who shows signs of following in their father's path
of family violence and abuse. "Walking the Dog" features Tom Go,
so called because of his unfulfilled dreams of leaving Stygo for Alaska.
In "Something to Go By," Billy struggles to accept the death of his twin
brother Lee, the favored one, and finds his way "back home" from a night
spent running the town snow plow in a blizzard. All of these are
stories of hope in the face of contrary circumstances. Says Hendrie,
"I think it's a great tribute to human beings that they live with what
they've got or that they go on to something better." 3 hours
2 cassettes
Order# 16021 ISBN 414-1 price $13.95
Interview. This is a thoughtful, articulate conversation with a deeply
gifted writer for whom we predict a distinguished career. HENDRIE
recounts with candor her development as a writer, and explains the long
process of discovery that transformed a group of seemingly unconnected
short stories into a novel of great power. After dropping out of
college, she worked for four years for the Forest Service as a firefighter,
which she loved, and had to leave after a serious injury. She started
to write because she "had questions that I didn't have answers for.
Things were not turning out the way that I wanted them to, and I could
not understand this. Eventually then the writing became more important.
I started loving the word." 60 minutes l cassette
Order# 16022 ISBN 415-X price $13.95
Reading and Interview set
Order# 16023 ISBN 416-8 price $25.00
HERLIHY, JAMES LEO
Reads "Love and the Buffalo" (short story). Virtuoso reading by the groundbreaking
author of MIDNIGHT COWBOY, who died in 1993. 34 min.
Order#: 2071 ISBN: 046-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. A wide-ranging discussion of Herlihy's career in the
theatre as actor and playwright, his friendship with Anais Nin, his involvement
in the anti-war movement, and his reasons for leaving writing behind. 86
min.
Order#: 2072 ISBN: 047-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2073 ISBN: 047-2 Price: $25.00
HERSEY, JOHN
Reads from HIROSHIMA and "The Aftermath." Strong, measured and dignified
reading performance of the first chapter of this classic book, Hersey's
account of six survivors of Hiroshima, and a selection from "The Aftermath,"
his 1986 revisiting of those remaining. 55 minutes.
Order#: 8051 ISBN: 292-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. In this rare discussion with this highly distinguished author
and journalist--he has only granted two other interviews--we found Hersey
to be studied in his remarks, but also quite warm, open and willing to
discuss a wide range of topics. "[This] fascinating historical and biographical
presentation is a fine supplement to Hersey's novels and nonfiction works"
(Booklist). 82 min.
Order#: 8052 ISBN: 293-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 8053 ISBN: 294-7 Price: $25.00
HUDSON WEEMS, CLENORA
Interview. Hudson-Weems is the author of AFRICANA WOMANISM:
RECLAIMING OURSELVES, and EMMETT TILL: THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB OF THE
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. In this two part conversation with Kay Bonetti,
CLENORA HUDSON-WEEMS talks first about her theory of Africana Womanism
and questions raised by her controversial examination of the role of "Africana"
women within the context of the feminist movement. In the second
part, Hudson-Weems talks about the Emmett Till case and her argument that
the lynching of Emmett Till, rather than the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was
the impetus for the modern Civil Rights movement.90 minutes 1 cassette
Order# 407-9 ISBN 407-9 price $13.95
HUMPHREYS, JOSEPHINE
Reads DREAMS OF SLEEP and RICH IN LOVE (first chapters of each). A warm,
precise, and often sly reading. "No one could hear Mrs. Humphreys read
the first chapter of her books in that cultured Charleston voice without
wanting to read the rest of both novels" (Salisbury Post). 81 min.
Order#: 8061 ISBN: 295-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. "A wonderful resource on contemporary fiction" (Booklist).
57 min.
Order#: 8062 ISBN: 296-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 8063 ISBN: 297-1 Price: $25.00
HUYNH QUANG NHUONG
Reads THE LAND I LOST (short stories). Winner of the William Allen White
Award. These delightful stories are Nhuong's memories of his childhood
on the central highlands of Vietnam, a landscape destroyed by the war.
Includes "Tank the Water Buffalo," "My Cousin," "The Horse Snake," "Opera,
Karate, and Bandits," "The Unfaithful Birds," and "Sorrow." Read by Bob
Thompson.
For juvenile and adult audiences. 52 min.
Order#: 5121 ISBN: 140-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. Drafted into the South Vietnamese Army in 1963, Nhuong went
with "a broken heart" because his sympathies were with the North but he
felt he didn't have the "the stuff of heroism" it took to live the life
of a revolutionary. Nonetheless a good soldier, he was wounded in battle
five times and permanently paralyzed. Since 1969 he has lived in the United
States. This "conversation is at once intellectually stimulating and profoundly
moving." (Third World Resources) 75 min.
Order#: 5124 ISBN: 142-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5125 ISBN: 239-4 Price: $25.00
JILES, PAULETTE
Reads from COUSINS, BLACKWATER, and A MANUAL OF ETIQUETTE FOR YOUNG LADIES
CROSSING CANADA BY TRAIN (published in Canada as SITTING IN THE CLUB CAR
DRINKING RUM AND KARMA-KOLA). Poetry and prose by one of Canada's
most celebrated writers, winner of the Governor General's Award.
75 min.
Order#: 13011 ISBN: 382-X Price: $13.95
Interview. Moves effortlessly from life to literature and back again.
Jiles talk is filled with anecdote: the haunting family story of
"the rose baby," the story of how she wrote a poem hunched over a typewriter,
barricaded in a newspaper office, while outside the town was being evacuated
from a forest fire. She eloqently defends the tradition of oral story
telling and explains the aesthetic principles behind her chosen role as
tale-teller and fabulist. 60 min.
Order# 13012 ISBN: 383-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 13013 ISBN: 384-6 Price: $13.95
JOHNSON, DIANE
Reads LYING LOW (excerpts). Closing sections of novel about Vietnam-protest-era
fugitive and the lives she touches and is touched by. 49 min.
Order#: 1091 ISBN: 016-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. Johnson discusses her use of the thriller form, the state
of the American novel, and the varied aspects of sexism in publishing and
criticism. 58 min.
Order#: 1092 ISBN: 017-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1093 ISBN: 240-8 Price: $25.00
KENNEDY, WILLIAM
Reads from THE INK TRUCK, LEGS, BILLY PHELAN'S GREATEST GAME, and IRONWEED.
Pulitzer Prize winner Kennedy "reads these selections with a delightful
suggestion of an Irish lilt. Well chosen and well read" (Choice).
76 min.
Order#: 4091 ISBN: 107-X Price: $13.95
Interview. Recorded the same week Kennedy won the 1984 Pulitzer
Prize for IRONWEED. This discussion "comprehensively addresses his
fiction writing and is notable not only for the insights into his work
but valuable for its comments on contemporary fiction" (Choice).
71 min.
Order#: 4092 ISBN: 108-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4093 ISBN: 241-6 Price: $25.00
KINCAID, JAMAICA
Reads ANNIE JOHN ("The Red Girl" section); AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER ("Girl"
and "My Mother" sections); and LUCY (excerpts). These reading selections
present an ideal cross section of Antiguan born Kincaid's subject matter,
and her development into one of our most accomplished prose stylists. Her
flawless reading performance produces a listening experience which can
only be described in superlatives. 60 min.
Order#: 11021 ISBN: 362-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. In this engaging and forthright conversation, Kincaid tells
her story of "lighting out" for America at the age of 17 from the tiny
West Indian island of Antigua with great charm and eloquence. And she speaks
with passion about having had to write her way through the influences of
her British Colonial education in order to find her own writing voice.
59 min.
Order#: 11022 ISBN: 363-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 11023 ISBN: 364-1 Price: $25.00
KINGSTON, MAXINE HONG
Reads from THE WOMAN WARRIOR and CHINA MEN, with assistance from her actor
husband, Earll Kingston. "Both of [these] books straddle genre--fiction,
biography, memoir, tale--as well as both Chinese and American culture,
and the highlight of the author's comments is her explanation of the source
and nature of her narrative style. Recommended for all libraries" (Choice).
53 min.
Order#: 6081 ISBN: 161-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. See comments above. 52 min.
Order#: 6082 ISBN: 162-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6083 ISBN: 242-4 Price: $25.00
KOTKER, ZANE
Reads from BODIES IN MOTION, A CERTAIN MAN, and WHITE RISING. 59
min.
Order#: 4101 ISBN: 109-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. Kotker is one of the literary world's better kept
secrets. "Her description of her struggles to become a writer and
yet be a woman will fascinate young women and will humble young would-be
writers... excellent for literature study, writing classes, and women's
groups" (Choice). 59 min.
Order#: 4102 ISBN: 110-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4103 ISBN: 243-2 Price: $25.00
KRIM, SEYMOUR
Reads from SIEGE. ". . . a massive prose poem, SIEGE might pass as a mid-20th-century
LEAVES OF GRASS with the Whitman influence filtered through a Beat consciousness"
(Library Journal). 84 min.
Order#: 4111 ISBN: 111-8 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Krim acknowledges that his work--loaded with brand
names, names of cronies, hipster slang, topical asides, and chanted, jazzy
rhymes and rhythms--risks sounding dated and corny, an admission that only
confirms his honesty and makes his hunger to place this vast aural gift
within the corpus of American literature even more admirable" (Library
Journal). 57 min.
Order#: 4112 ISBN: 112-6 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4113 ISBN: 244-0 Price: $25.00
LEWIS, JANET
Reads from THE WIFE OF MARTIN GUERRE, "With the Spring" (short story),
and "The Anasazi Woman" and "The Ancient Ones: Betatakin" (poems). Gentle
and poetic reading of these pieces vividly illustrates the reasons for
the resurgence of acclaim for this careful stylist and compassionate observer
of ordinary lives. 57 min.
Order#: 8071 ISBN: 301-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Lewis discusses her early interest in Native American culture,
the composition and themes of her three famous historical novels based
on celebrated cases of circumstantial evidence, including THE WIFE OF MARTIN
GUERRE; her work as a librettist, historian and poet; and her long
and happy life as the wife of the late poet and critic Ivor Winters. 57
min.
Order#: 8072 ISBN: 302-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 8073 ISBN: 303-X Price: $25.00
LOPEZ, BARRY
Reads "Winter Count," (short story), "Trying the Land," "Searching for
Ancestors," and "A Short Manifesto," (non-fiction). "A haunting blend of
fact and fiction, landscape and imagination--these pieces demonstrate his
range and deepest concerns with language, landscape, human tolerance, and
peace. His words and voice cut into our consciousness like a sharp expressionistic
etching" (Choice). 56 min.
Order#: 5021 ISBN: 124-X Price: $13.95
Interview. "This is pleasant and informed talk at its best. Touches
on topics of commercialism, the value of good editing, the essential link
of literature to light (natural and spiritual), and Lopez's special blend
of fact and fiction, rational and intuitive thought" (Choice). 67 min.
Order#: 5022 ISBN: 125-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5023 ISBN: 245-9 Price: $25.00
LURIE, ALISON
Reads from ONLY CHILDREN. 38 min.
Order#: 4121 ISBN: 113-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. Pulitzer Prize winner discusses her interest in children's
literature and the folk tale, her belief that mythology is an active part
of contemporary life, and her problems in carving out a writing career
while raising a family. 58 min.
Order#: 4122 ISBN: 144-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4123 ISBN: 246-7 Price: $25.00
MACLEAN, NORMAN
Reads from A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT and YOUNG MEN AND FIRE, posthumously
published, winner of the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award.
Spellbinding reading and commentary by this beloved scholar-author, who
was a vigorous 87 at the time of this recording. 77 min.
Order#: 5031 ISBN: 126-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. Focuses on the life and times as well as the craft
and vision of this charming gentleman who, after retiring from his 45-year
teaching post as William Rainey Harper Professor of English at the University
of Chicago, stunned and delighted the literary world with A RIVER RUNS
THROUGH IT. 38 minutes.
Order#: 5032 ISBN: 127-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set. We highly recommend this recording
as a set, because the reading offers excellent commentary, and the interview
contains many brief, illustrative reading excerpts.
Order#: 5033 ISBN: 247-5 Price: $25.00
MAILER, NORMAN
Reads from MIAMI AND THE SIEGE OF CHICAGO, AN AMERICAN DREAM, and ARMIES
OF THE NIGHT. "A stimulating cross section of Mailer's writing and
personality is packed into this recording... Interview ranges freely from
Mailer's novel about Egypt (ANCIENT EVENINGS) to the influences of American
writers on him and his help to other writers" (Booklist). Reading
and interview on one cassette. 64 min.
Order#: 1103 ISBN: 018-9 Price: $15.95
MARSHALL, PAULE
Reads from BROWN GIRL, BROWNSTONES and PRAISESONG FOR THE WIDOW.
"A rich and rare experience... [Marshall] explains what she is trying to
do in two of her most acclaimed novels and then offers excerpts from each...these
voices stay with you a long while" (San Francisco Chronicle). 55
min.
Order#: 4131 ISBN: 115-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Includes good discussion of the creative process;
MacArthur Fellow Marshall's unique perspective on the Black experience
in America as a child of a tightly knit Barbadian immigrant neighborhood
in Brooklyn; and her thoughts on the relationship between one's social
vision and art. 82 min.
Order#: 4132 ISBN: 116-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4133 ISBN: 248-3 Price: $25.00
MASON, BOBBIE ANN
Reads from IN COUNTRY. Award winning author reads from her
deeply moving novel about a 17-year-old girl's search for her father, who
died in Vietnam before she was born, and for the meaning of that war to
all of us. 57 min.
Order#: 5041 ISBN: 128-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. Covers her commitment to writing with respect about
the majority of the American population--folks who shop at K-Mart, listen
to rock & roll, and believe in the American dream. 48 min.
Order#: 5042 ISBN: 129-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5043 ISBN: 249-1 Price: $25.00
MATTHIESSEN, PETER
Reads generous selections from THE SNOW LEOPARD, winner of the 1978 National
Book Award, and "On the River Styx" (short story). A fine recording with
one of our most distinguished and versatile authors. 79 min.
Order#: 7041 ISBN: 183-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Joyce Carol Oates.
Matthiessen examines the tension in his writing life between the pull to
fiction, which for him is his true calling as a writer, and the time-consuming
demands of his non-fiction, a product of his social and environmental advocacy.
Includes rare discussion of his Zen Buddhism. "A useful original
source for research on an important contemporary author...appropriate for
college and general audiences" (Choice). 58 min.
Order#: 7042 ISBN: 184-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7043 ISBN: 185-1 Price: $25.00
MAXWELL, WILLIAM
Reads SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW (complete)
We are deeply honored to be able to offer this selection.
SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW, which won the American Book Award when it was
published in 1980, is a small masterpiece. It's plainspoken style
belies the complex narrative method used by WILLIAM MAXWELL to tell this
story within a story -- a fictional recreation of a crime of passion that
happened outside Maxwell's childhood home of Lincoln, Illinois. 87
years old at the time of this recording, Maxwell is a strong and vigorous
reader of his own work. Perhaps better known for his 40 year career
as a fiction editor at The New Yorker, where he edited the work of John
Cheever, John O'Hara, J. D. Salinger, Harold Brodkey, Delmore Schwartz,
and many distinguished others, MAXWELL is also one of our most enduring
writers, author of 12 volumes of fiction and non-fiction, most recently
ALL THE DAYS AND NIGHTS: The Collected Stories. 5 hours
4 cassettes
Order# 16031 ISBN 420-6 price $15.95
Interview. Our conversation with MAXWELL radiates this shy and self-effacing
man's personal kindness and generosity of spirit as he talks with candor
of his life and career, and tells stories of his relationship with some
of his writers at The New Yorker. He sets at least some of
the record straight with respect to John Cheever, whose letters are full
of stories about Maxwell -- some of them hilarious -- which he claims are
untrue, saying that Cheever, especially late in his life, was quite the
"fantasist." In all, this conversation is a remarkable account of
a 6 decade span of some of the most fertile ground in modern American letters
and literature. 90 minutes.
Order# 16032 ISBN 421-4 price $13.95
Reading and Interview set
Order# 16033 ISBN 422-2 price $27.00
"The existence of the [AAPL] audio cassette tape recording of William
Maxwell reading his very tender 1980 novel SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW is
a cause for celebration." -- Rachel Jacobsohn, author of THE READING GROUP
HANDBOOK and Director of the Association of Book Group Readers and Leaders.
"One of the best audio programs to come across the threshold in
a while" The Philadelphia Inquirer/March 30, 1997.
"What is extraordinary about this program is [Maxwell's] talk
with Kay Bonetti, in which Maxwell, 87 at the time of this recording, discusses
his life and work with a reflective honesty that is unmatched by any other
author in the [AAPL] series. Maxwell's career also encompasses four
decades as fiction editor of THE NEW YORKER, and questions about the authors
with whom he worked, such as John Cheever and J. D. Salinger, are met with
the same directness and lucidity that characterize his prose" -- LIBRARY
JOURNAL/June 15, 1997.
McAFEE, TOM
Reads "The Prisoner," "This is My Living Room" (short stories), and "The
Merry Month of May" (short story excerpts). 55 min.
Order#: 1111 ISBN: 019-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. 77 min.
Order#: 1112 ISBN: 020-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1113 ISBN: 250-5 Price: $25.00
McGUANE, TOM
Reads "Dogs," "The Skirmish," and "The Rescue" (short stories). 41 min.
Order#: 5051 ISBN: 130-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. This interview sparkles with McGuane's independence,
warmth, wit, and candor. Sober and happily re-married, he speaks
frankly about life on his Montana ranch and his 1970s lifestyle. Articulate
and frank discussion of McGuane's themes, craft, vision, literary likes
and dislikes, and his assessment of the entire spectrum of the contemporary
writing business. 72 min.
Order#: 5052 ISBN: 131-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5053 ISBN: 251-3 Price: $25.00
McKINLEY, JAMES
Reads "Liebestod" and "Meridians" (short stories). 23 minutes.
Order#: 3081 ISBN: 074-X Price: 13.95
Interview. Accomplished essayist and fiction writer discusses balancing
non-fiction and fiction writing. 56 min.
Order#: 3082 ISBN: 075-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3083 ISBN: 252-1 Price: $25.00
McMURTRY, LARRY
Reads from TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. If your only familiarity with this
McMurtry novel is from the 1983 Academy-Award-winning film, you're in for
an unexpected treat with this hilarious, high-spirited reading. 44 min.
Order#: 2081 ISBN: 048-0 Price: $13.95
MOMADAY, N. SCOTT
Reads from HOUSE MADE OF DAWN, THE NAMES, THE GOURD DANCER, and "Tsoai
and the Shieldmaker." "Momaday's resonant voice helps us to hear
the connections between the verbal art and written literature that ground
all of his written work" (Choice). 40 min.
Order#: 3091 ISBN: 077-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. ". . . rich and wide-ranging. Momaday's answers
include thoughtful, elegant discussions of his autobiography, useful commentary
on his work, and some fresh, revealing statements regarding his aesthetics"
(Choice). 69 min.
Order#: 3092 ISBN: 078-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set. "Momaday is the most recognized and
accomplished American Indian writers of our time. This powerful pair
of tapes demonstrates why" (Choice).
Order#: 3093 ISBN: 253-X Price: 25.00
MORGAN, SPEER
Reads BELLE STARR (chapter 18). Fine portrait of this salty female
character, with great dialogue. 35 minutes.
Order#: 1121 ISBN: 021-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Articulate discussion of the use of history in contemporary
fiction, the turn away from the psychological novel, and a wide range of
issues surrounding the business of writing. Morgan is also editor of the
MISSOURI REVIEW. 70 min.
Order#: 1122 ISBN: 022-6 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1123 ISBN: 255-6 Price: $25.00
MORRISON, TONI
Reads from TAR BABY. "Morrison enhances her already evocative prose with
compelling vocal cadences. Pleasantly understated, the rhythms of her voice
draw the listener into a narrative of vivid, often disturbing images" (Library
Journal). 57 min.
Order# 3111 ISBN: 079-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Nobel Laureate discusses her Midwestern roots in an integrated
mill town and their influence on her choice of themes and subject matter;
her search for a craft and voice which would adequately embody her vision
and address a black audience; and a variety of issues surrounding the "black
and female writer question," including her reputation as "Superwoman."
One of our favorite interviews. 79 min.
Order#: 3112 ISBN: 080-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3113 ISBN: 256-4 Price: $25.00
MUNRO, ALICE
Prize-winning Canadian author reads the title story from THE PROGRESS OF
LOVE. Munro, whom many readers compare to Chekov and Proust, brings
her character's voices vividly to life. 71 min.
Order#: 7051 ISBN: 186-X Price: $13.95
Interview. "Provides valuable commentary. Munro discusses
artists who have influenced her, her relationship with feminist critics,
the emergence of Canadian literature, and the particular problems and advantages
of women as writers. Recommended for collections of contemporary fiction
and women's studies" (Choice). 72 min.
Order#: 7052 ISBN: 187-8 Price: 13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7053 ISBN: 188-6 Price: 25.00
NAYLOR, GLORIA
Reads from THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE and MAMA DAY. "Naylor reads with
a sense of possession, the words moving across her tongue like cherished
children whom a proud mother is showing off to the relatives" (North Dakota
Quarterly). 57 min.
Order#: 8081 ISBN: 304-8 Price: $13.95
Interview. National Book Award-winner Naylor talks about her struggle
to cultivate and sustain her own sense of self-approval and self-definition,
in order to maintain the focus and discipline necessary for the hard work
of writing. 77 min.
Order#: 8082 ISBN: 305-6 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 8083 ISBN: 306-4 Price: $25.00
NAYLOR, PHYLLIS
Reads from UNEXPECTED PLEASURES. For adult audience. 51 min.
Order#: 7061 ISBN: 189-4 Price: $13.95
Reads from THE AGONY OF ALICE, (an ALA Notable Book) and THE KEEPER
(an ALA Best Book for Young Adults), two of her novels for younger readers
which deal with "real life" topics in a sensitive by unflinchingly honest
manner. 61 min.
Order#: 7062 ISBN: 190-8 Price: $13.95
Interview. Good in-depth discussion on writing for readers of all ages,
and the evolution of Naylor's career within the context of the marketplace
and her personal life circumstances. She also provides fascinating information
about the volatile topic of censorship in the world of children's literature.
59 min.
Order#: 7063 ISBN: 191-6 Price: $13.95
NICHOLS, JOHN
Reads from MAGIC JOURNEY and NIRVANA BLUES. Fine reading by the author
of THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR. 61 min.
Order#: 2091 ISBN: 049-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Focuses on Nichols' transformation into a writer devoted
to finding a polemical art. 55 minutes.
Order#: 2092 ISBN: 050-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2093 ISBN: 257-2 Price: $25.00
O'HEHIR, DIANA
Reads from I WISH THIS WAR WERE OVER and four poems. Diana O'Hehir
says nothing prepared her for the recognition that followed the publication
of her first novel, which was a finalist for the 1985 Pulitzer Prize in
fiction. This lovely reading "seduces the listener to read the author's
works...the excerpts, while generous, are merely enticements to the grand
feast" (Library Journal). 54 minutes.
Order#: 10021 ISBN: 351-X Price: $13.95
Interview. O'Hehir recounts the life circumstances that led to
her return to writing in her late middle years, with the publication of
her first novel at the age of 63. She is highly articulate in explaining
how the genres of poetry and fiction inter-relate in her writing life,
and how she transforms her personal history and concerns into the stuff
of fiction. "Of particular note. Highly recommended" (Library Journal).
Order#: 10022 ISBN: 352-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 10023 ISBN: 353-6 Price: $25.00
OZICK, CYNTHIA
Reads "A Mercenary" (novella). "Listeners will enjoy the concreteness
of detail along with the depth of insight. Highly recommended for all audiences,
but of particular interest to students in women's literature and Jewish-American
literature" (Choice). 86 min.
Order#: 6091 ISBN: 163-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Ozick is magnificent. She addresses even the most
probing questions thoughtfully, and with a storehouse of knowledge at the
ready. She quotes, she invents, she speaks polished prose off the cuff"
(Woman's Newspaper). 89 min.
Order#: 6092 ISBN: 164-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6093 ISBN: 259-9 Price: $25.00
PALEY, GRACE
Reads "A Conversation With My Father," and "Friends" (short stories). "She
prefaces the reading with an interesting summary of her life and her relationship
to her parents and her siblings. ["Friends"] illustrates effectively what
Vivian Gornick of The Village Voice calls 'a deep sense of the ongoingness
of life and an even deeper sense of the New York idiom'" (Choice).
42 min.
Order#: 6101 ISBN: 165-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Paley has been called a writer's writer, and this interview
makes that point well. She speaks candidly about her social/political consciousness,
her feminine sensibilities, but most of all about her work as writer and
a teacher of writing" (Choice). 43 min.
Order#: 6102 ISBN: 166-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6103 ISBN: 260-2 Price: $25.00
PHILLIPS, JAYNE ANNE
Reads "Souvenir" (short story) and MACHINE DREAMS (excerpts). In "Souvenir,"
a grown daughter, still single, returns home to visit her mother, hospitalized
with cancer. The selections from MACHINE DREAMS focus on Danner and Billy,
the children of the family in this intergenerational novel about the impact
of the Vietnam War on us all. 88 min.
Order#: 11031 ISBN: 365-X Price: $13.95
Interview. A thoughtful and articulate conversation with Phillips, praised
by Nadine Gordimer as the best short story writer to come along since Eudora
Welty. 53 min.
Order#: 11032 ISBN: 366-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 11033 ISBN: 367-6 Price: $25.00
PIERCY, MARGE
Reads from WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, BRAIDED LIVES and poems: "For
the Young Who Want To," "They Inhabit Me," "Whose Creature Am I," and "Crescent
Moon Like a Canoe." A rare treat. 69 min.
Order#: 6111 ISBN: 167-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Discussion covers a variety of Piercy's concerns including her
response to critics who criticize her for writing out of a political and
social vision. 50 min.
Order#: 6112 ISBN: 168-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6113 ISBN: 261-0 Price: $25.00
PRICE, REYNOLDS
Reads from A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE, THE SURFACE OF EARTH, and THE SOURCE
OF LIGHT. 74 min.
Order#: 2101 ISBN: 051-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. Price's views on the novel as a Christian form, Flannery O'Connor,
letters as a form of truth telling, and writers he calls "examples of excellence."
Conducted by Lyn Ballard. 58 min.
Order#: 2102 ISBN: 052-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2103 ISBN: 262-9 Price: $25.00
PRICE, RICHARD
Reads from THE WANDERERS and THE BREAKS. Deadpan reading of hilarious
Ducky Boy episode and humorous opening scene from Price's fourth novel.
44 min.
Order#: 2111 ISBN: 053-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. Includes discussion of major influences on Price's style
and subject matter: Herbert Selby, Jr., and Lenny Bruce. 59 min.
Order#: 2112 ISBN: 054-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2113 ISBN: 263-7 Price: $25.00
ROBINSON, MARILYNNE
Reads from HOUSEKEEPING (last chapter), her novel of unorthodox family
life in small town Idaho; and MOTHER COUNTRY, a non-fiction account of
plutonium pollution in Great Britain from the Sellafield power plant. 89
min. One of our favorites!
Order#: 9031 ISBN: 328-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. Thoroughgoing and delightful discussion of both HOUSEKEEPING
and MOTHER COUNTRY, informed throughout by Robinson's pointed wit and keen
mind. 83 min.
Order#: 9032 ISBN: 329-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 9033 ISBN: 330-7 Price: $25.00
SANCHEZ, THOMAS
Reads from MILE ZERO. With this virtuoso reading performance, Sanchez
brings to life a potpourri of character sketches, moments, and full scenes
from this powerful and complex novel of post-Vietnam America. 67 min.
Order#: 10031 ISBN: 354-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. This thoroughgoing and highly reflective conversation recounts
the history of the composition both of RABBIT BOSS and MILE ZERO, including
their respective political and aesthetic contexts. "Riveting" (Library
Journal).
Order#: 10032 ISBN: 355-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 10033 ISBN: 356-0 Price: $25.00
SARTON, MAY
Reads from AS WE ARE NOW and JOURNAL OF A SOLITUDE. "A beautifully wrought
mesh of materials from the work and life of poet-novelist-journalist Sarton.
This program is a tribute to this remarkable and outstanding woman" (Library
Journal). 54 min.
Order#: 2121 ISBN: 356-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. "In the interview Sarton gives a fascinating review of
her life and work and reveals great wisdom in talking about her own perfect
blending of life and art. The interviewer is excellent in eliciting information"
(Choice). 59 min.
Order#: 2122 ISBN: 056-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set. This meeting with May Sarton is recorded
in her journal, AT SEVENTY.
Order#: 2123 ISBN: 264-5 Price: $25.00
SAVAN, GLENN
Reads from WHITE PALACE. Made into a perfectly awful major motion
picture. Two scenes from delightful novel about mismatched lovers,
as the author intended! Max and Nora bring out the absolute worst
in each other in a supermarket. Then Max takes Nora to meet his mother
and best friends for Thanksgiving dinner. 40 min.
Order#: 9041 ISBN: 331-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. Fresh and candid talk with this promising and intelligent young
writer, who explains that what he was trying to do in WHITE PALACE was
to bring a completely unlovable character to life on the page and to convince
the reader that someone like his protagonist, Max, could fall genuinely
in love with her. 68 min.
Order#: 9042 ISBN: 332-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 9043 ISBN: 333-1 Price: $25.00
SAYLES, JOHN
Reads "At the Anarchist Convention" (short story). "A charming and provocative
piece--with a excellent interplay of sounds, names, history, and character
dialogue--performed with understanding and wit. Highly recommended" (Choice).
25 min.
Order#: 3121 ISBN: 081-2 Price: $13.95
Interview. ". . . a loose and disarming rap with a very candid
and likeable young writer...sincere and informed talk about the author's
working-class background, his diverse writing methods, his frank discussion
of publishing, reviews, and social concerns" (Choice). 82 min.
Order#: 3122 ISBN: 082-0 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3123 ISBN: 265-3 Price: $25.00
SETTLE, MARY LEE
Reads from THE BEULAH QUINTET. Virtuoso performance by one of America's
finest, deeply intelligent contemporary writers, winner of the National
Book Award. Two cassettes. 96 min.
Order#: 2131 ISBN: 057-X Price: $13.95
Interview. "Settle is a gifted writer, in the style of John Jakes,
without the lurid sensationalism. Her plots form a time-line, and following
families from novel to novel is fascinating. The interview is splendid"
(Library Journal). 56 min.
Order#: 2132 ISBN: 058-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2133 ISBN: 266-1 Price: $25.00
SHACOCHIS, BOB
"Easy in the Islands" (short story). Shacochis reads title story
from winner of the 1985 American Book Award. Colorful and musical
Caribbean dialect read with great skill. 66 min.
Order#: 5061 ISBN: 132-0 Price: $13.95
Interview. This interview is especially interesting for the inside
view it gives us of the particular disappointments, joys, and frustrations
of an "emerging writer" of great promise. 54 min.
Order#: 5062 ISBN: 133-9 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5063 ISBN: 267-X Price: $25.00
SHANGE, NTOZAKE
Reads from LA LUTA CONTINUA; and "Beneath the Necessity of Talking":
Shange joins with jazz musicians John Purcell and Jean-Paul Bourelly to
perform eight pieces, ranging in tone and subject from the erotic "Kisses"
to the elegiac "Take the 'A' Train" to the violent and harrowing "Crack
Annie." "Randy, intimate and provocative." (Philadelphia Inquirer)
59 min.
Order#: 9051 ISBN: 334-X Price: $13.95
Interview. Ranges in topic from world politics and the relationship
of Afro-American culture to her art, to the ways her experience as an actor
and dancer have shaped her writing. Throughout, Shange shares with the
listener her celebration of "the marvelous gift of breath." 48 min.
Order#: 9052 ISBN: 335-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set. "Powerful stuff, and Shange's message
is complex. To get the most from it, listen to the performance tape first,
then the interview, then the performances again" (Philadelphia Inquirer).
Order#: 9053 ISBN: 336-6 Price: $25.00
SIMPSON, MONA
Reads from ANYWHERE BUT HERE. Simpson reads the first chapter and
the "Other People's Secrets" section of her first and bestselling novel.
"All selections reveal a dark humor and tantalize the listener into reading
the novel itself" (Choice). 90 min.
Order#: 7071 ISBN: 195-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. The author discusses her response to every young writer's dream
come true, publishing a first novel to critical acclaim and bestsellerdom
as well. 44 min.
Order#: 7072 ISBN: 196-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7073 ISBN: 197-5 Price: $25.00
SPENCER, ELIZABETH
Reads THE COUSINS (a novella), from JACK OF DIAMONDS. Fresh
and strong reading performance by one of our finest vintage writers, author
of THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. 2 cassettes. 110 min.
Order#: 13031 ISBN: 388-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. In this candid and down to earth interview, Elizabeth
Spencer discusses most of her nine novels and many of her short stories.
76 min.
Order#: 13032 ISBN: 389-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 13033 ISBN: 390-0 Price: $25.00
STEGNER, WALLACE
Reads from CROSSING TO SAFETY and THE SPECTATOR BIRD. This marvelous
reading performance will delight Stegner's many fans. 70 min.
Order#: 7081 ISBN: 198-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. ". . .covers topics ranging from the origins of his characters
and themes to a discussion of regionalism in American literature. . . .
Stegner's comments will be revealing to readers of his work. Recommended"
(Choice). 74 min.
Order#: 7082 ISBN: 199-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 7083 ISBN: 200-9 Price: $25.00
STONE, ROBERT
Reads "Aquarius Obscured" (short story) and from A FLAG FOR SUNRISE. Skillful
reading by one of our major contemporary writers, winner of the National
Book Award. 58 min.
Order#: 2141 ISBN: 059-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. "A thoroughgoing, insightful, and cogent exploration of Stone's
writings, his background, and working habits" (Choice). 81 min.
One of our favorites!
Order#: 2142 ISBN: 060-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 2143 ISBN: 268-8 Price: $25.00
SWAN, GLADYS
Reads CARNIVAL FOR THE GODS (first chapter), "The Rabbit in the Moon" (short
story), and from GHOST DANCE: A PLAY OF VOICES (excerpts).
Catapults the listener into a barren but beautiful southwestern landscape
peopled by circus performers, dreamers, 60's refugees, and a visiting movie
star.
Order#: 13041 ISBN: 391-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Swan discusses how character and situation evolve from
her fascination with certain striking images, from which fiction arises.
56 min.
Order#: 13042 ISBN: 392-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 13043 ISBN: 393-5 Price: $25.00
THELWELL, MICHAEL
Reads THE HARDER THEY COME (excerpts). Beautiful reading makes the
Jamaican patois come to life for Western ears. Graphic and disturbing account
of a caning incident and its aftermath. 45 min.
Order#: 1141 ISBN: 025-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. Includes discussion of Rastafarianism, the genesis
of THE HARDER THEY COME, its relation to the movie of the same name, and
the question and place of Third World literature in the larger tradition.
82 min.
Order#: 1142 ISBN: 026-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1143 ISBN: 269-6 Price: $25.00
TUROW, SCOTT
Reads from PRESUMED INNOCENT, his bestselling novel about a prosecuting
attorney falsely accused of murder. "Well worth your time and effort"
(Pen & Ink). 93 min.
Order#: 9061 ISBN: 337-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. Successful attorney and author talks about the genesis and development
of his writing life and career and its relationship to his life in "the
Law." Good discussion of the crime novel genre and how PRESUMED INNOCENT
both fits and departs from it. 80 min.
Order#: 9062 ISBN: 338-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set. "One of the best of an outstanding collection
of author interviews and readings" (The Armchair Detective).
Order#: 9063 ISBN: 339-0 Price: $25.00
VARGAS LLOSA, MARIO
Reads THE WAR OF THE END OF THE WORLD (bi-lingual excerpts). Vargas Llosa
is a dramatic and compelling reader -- both in Spainish and in English
-- of the opening passages from his personal favorite of all his novels.
50 min.
Order#: 13051 ISBN: 394-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. " . . . charged with the energy of a man who enjoys taking
a fresh look at his art. . .Taken together, these programs are a helpful
introduction to an important author with much to say and a necessary addition
to serious literature collections" (Library Journal). 90 min.
Order#: 13052 ISBN: 395-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 13053 ISBN: 396-X Price: $25.00
WAGONER, DAVID
Reads from THE ESCAPE ARTIST. 51 min.
Order#: 1151 ISBN: 027-8 Price: $13.95
Interview. Wagoner discusses the novel as metaphor for the creative
process, the relationship between his poetry and his novels, his writing
methods, his mentor Theodore Roethke, and the making of his novel into
film by Francis Ford Coppola. 80 min.
Order#: 1152 ISBN: 028-6 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1153 ISBN: 270-X Price: $25.00
WALKER, ALICE
Reads "Nineteen Fifty-five" (short story). The Pulitzer Prize-winning author
reads this humane, witty and compassionate story about the exploitation
of black musicians by the white rock and roll industry. 36 min.
Order#: 1161 ISBN: 029-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Walker elaborates on the broader themes suggested
by her story '1955' and gives her view on many subjects...Walker is old
and wise beyond all our years" (Choice). 46 min.
Order#: 1162 ISBN: 030-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1163 ISBN: 271-8 Price: $25.00
WALKER, MARGARET
Reads from JUBILEE . Walker's reading performance is powerful and
dramatic as she shifts with ease from the rhythm of slave speech to the
rhetoric of white southern planters. Passages include scenes from Vyry's
childhood; the horrifying "Fourth of July Celebration;" "Ku
Klux Klan don't like no Koons;" and selections from the final pages
of the novel. Two cassettes. 108 min.
Order#: 11041 ISBN: 368-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. A frank and engaging conversation with vintage poet, novelist,
essayist and biographer, including talk about her close working relationship
with Richard Wright and her critical biography RICHARD WRIGHT: DAEMONIC
GENIUS, as well as her precedent setting legal tangles with the Wright
estate and her unsuccessful plagiarism suit against Alex Haley. 86 min.
Order#: 11042 ISBN: 369-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 11043 ISBN: 370-6 Price: $25.00
WATERS, FRANK
Reads THE MAN WHO KILLED THE DEER (excerpt). Fine reading of Pueblo Council
meeting scene by this vintage chronicler of the American West and Native
American mysticism, author of PEOPLE OF THE VALLEY, BOOK OF THE HOPI and
MASKED GODS. 40 min.
Order#: 3131 ISBN: 085-5 Price: $13.95
Interview. Waters' unusual viewpoint on the implications of nuclear energy
and its development within the heart of American Indian Culture, plus a
wide range of issues surrounding his long life and career. 69 min.
Order#: 3132 ISBN: 086-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3133 ISBN: 272-6 Price: $25.00
WELCH, JAMES
Reads from WINTER IN THE BLOOD, THE DEATH OF JIM LONEY, and FOOL'S CROW.
Fine performance by Montana-born Native American poet and novelist of extraordinary
gifts. 77 min.
Order#: 5071 ISBN: 134-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. Chronicles Welch's struggles with the craft of fiction--each
novel has been an intense learning process for him--and thoroughly examines
their Native American context and their themes and structures. 54
min.
Order#: 5072 ISBN: 135-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5073 ISBN: 273-4 Price: $25.00
WHITE, EDMUND
Reads from A BOY'S OWN STORY, NOCTURNES FOR THE KING OF NAPLES, and THE
BEAUTIFUL ROOM IS EMPTY. A sensitive, sophisticated, and polished
reading performance by one of our most gifted writers. 65 min.
Order#: 9071 ISBN: 340-4 Price: $13.95
Interview. This interview contains some of the most open, frank,
and detailed commentary on how a particular writer actually thinks and
works that we have ever had the pleasure of recording. White is HIV positive,
and also talks about the impact of AIDS in the context of the Gay
Liberation movement and his work-in-progress. 83 min.
Order#: 9072 ISBN: 341-2 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 9073 ISBN: 342-0 Price: $25.00
WIDEMAN, JOHN EDGAR
Reads from his 1984 PEN Faulkner Award-winning novel SENT FOR YOU YESTERDAY,
and from BROTHERS AND KEEPERS, which explores his relationship with his
brother Robby, who is serving a life sentence for murder. 89 min.
Order#: 5081 ISBN: 136-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. This interview contains excellent in-depth discussion
about how Wideman--a former basketball star and Rhodes Scholar--came to
rediscover his roots and find his true "voice" and artistic material in
the stories and people of Homewood, the neighborhood in Pittsburgh where
his family has lived since the 1840s. "Another fine glimpse into the mind
of a writer" (Choice). 78 min.
Order#: 5082 ISBN: 137-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5083 ISBN: 274-2 Price: $25.00
WILLIAMS, JOHN A.
Reads !CLICK SONG (excerpts). Drawing on events from his own life and distinguished
career as a journalist and novelist, this novel, which Williams considers
his best, is a dark study of friendship between writers, literary politics,
and racism in the publishing industry. 87 min.
Order#: 9081 ISBN: 343-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. In a long and fascinating conversation with this quite prolific--he
says "driven"--writer, Williams tells the story behind the story of many
of his eleven novels. 59 min.
Order#: 9082 ISBN: 344-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 9083 ISBN: 345-5 Price: $25.00
WOIWODE, LARRY
Reads "The Street," from BEYOND THE BEDROOM WALL. This reading
"serves equally well as an introduction to Woiwode's novel and as a paradigm
of fiction that strongly evokes a sense of time and place" (Choice).
42 min.
Order#: 4141 ISBN: 117-7 Price: $13.95
Interview. ". . . anyone interested in Woiwode's work will enjoy
these insights into his personality" (Choice). 61 min.
Order#: 4142 ISBN: 118-5 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4143 ISBN: 275-0 Price: $13.95
WOLFE, GENE
Reads "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" and "Solar Labyrinth"
(short stories). 48 min.
Order#: 4151 ISBN: 119-3 Price: $13.95
Interview. Nebula Award winning author gives a compassionate but worried
look at the future of the human race. Conducted by Chris Merrick. 58 min.
Order#: 4152 ISBN: 120-7 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 4153 ISBN: 276-9 Price: $25.00
WOLFF, TOBIAS
Reads "The Rich Brother" and "Coming Attractions" (short stories). Award
winning author of THIS BOY'S LIFE and IN PHAROAH'S ARMY reads selections
from BACK IN THE WORLD. 61 min.
Order#: 5091 ISBN: 138-X Price: $13.95
Interview. This well-focused interview contains excellent in-depth
discussion of many of Wolff's particular stories and the art of story telling.
Also good talk too about context of THIS BOY'S LIFE and IN PHAROAH'S ARMY.
56 min.
Order#: 5092 ISBN: 139-8 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 5093 ISBN: 277-7 Price: $25.00
WOLITZER, HILMA
Reads from HEARTS and IN THE PALOMAR ARMS. "Unlike many such excerpted
pieces, these stand well on their own as character studies" (Library Journal).
37 min.
Order#: 3141 ISBN: 087-1 Price: $13.95
Interview. "Wolitzer is articulate on the writing process, how she is
isolated but not lonely while writing because her characters keep her company,
how she is terrified of being 'blocked'" (Library Journal). 58 min.
Order#: 3142 ISBN: 088-X Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3143 ISBN: 278-5 Price: $25.00
WRITER IN OUR WORLD
Highlights from Tri-Quarterly magazine's 1984 symposium, featuring Gloria
Emerson, Leslie Epstein, Carolyn Forche, Ward Just, Grace Paley, Mary Lee
Settle, Robert Stone, and Derek Walcott. The goal of the symposium was
to bring before a public audience a debate of the greatest importance--what
is the place of serious fiction and poetry in our culture today? In vigorous,
passionate, sometimes heated prepared statements and exchanges between
themselves and members of the audience these distinguished writers focus
on war, politics, race, gender, international affairs, and censorship.
Two cassettes. 173 minutes.
Order#: 5101 ISBN: 143-6 Price: $25.00
YOUNG, AL
Reads SITTING PRETTY (excerpts). Brilliant performance of the voice
of S. J. Prettyman, a 55-year-old Huck Finn seeking to win his family's
love and respect, finding in the process that he already has it. 33 min.
Order#: 1171 ISBN: 031-6 Price: $13.95
Interview. Young, one of the founders of Yardbird Press, here discusses
the question of "Black Literature" and the larger tradition, racism in
publishing and criticism. 59 min.
Order#: 1172 ISBN: 032-4 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 1173 ISBN: 279-3 Price: $25.00
YOUNG, MARGUERITE
Reads from MISS MACINTOSH, MY DARLING. Skillful and dramatic reading by
one of America's most legendary and learned writers. The 1200-page novel
took 18 years to complete. Two cassettes. 153 minutes.
Order#: 3151 ISBN: 089-9 Price: $13.95
Interview. Fascinating discussion of 2 volume biography of Eugene
Debs, history and method of composition of MISS MACINTOSH, and Young's
overall aesthetic, including her debt to the psychology and philosophy
of William James. 81 min.
Order#: 3152 ISBN: 090-1 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 3153 ISBN: 280-7 Price: $25.00
YOUNT, JOHN
Reads from HARDCASTLE, about an abortive attempt by the National Miner's
Union in 1931 to organize a small Kentucky coal mine. 54 min.
Order#: 6121 ISBN: 169-X Price: $13.95
Interview. Excellent discussion about the craft of writing, plus questions
of regionalism and the sense of place, by one of our widely admired but
not well enough known novelists, the author of WOLF AT THE DOOR, THE TRAPPER'S
LAST SHOT, HARDCASTLE, and TOOTS IN SOLITUDE. 86 min.
Order#: 6122 ISBN: 170-3 Price: $13.95
Reading and Interview set.
Order#: 6123 ISBN: 281-5 Price: $25.00